My Sweet Delinquent
by Midas-Gold
Summary: "I'll be yours, if you promise to be mine. I'm a bit fucked up so it's not really a fair trade but I still want you" he whispered in my ear. I kissed his lips softly and looked into his eyes. "You're all I want Ichigo" I said kissing him again, as my heart beat out of my chest. Orihime meets Ichigo in university and they fall in love just like they're destined to.
1. Chapter 1: The Boy in the leather jacket

**AN: Hello there! It's another story, should i be updating the others? yes. But still hope you enjoy this! It's an AU between our lovebirds Ichihime! Ichigo is your typical bad boy here and yes you guessed it, Orihime is the nice, cute naive girl. Here we go.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **Chapter 1: The Boy in the leather jacket**

Tatsuki and I stood inside my empty apartment. Saying the final goodbyes was unbearably sad and I felt my heart clench painfully. The weight of the fact that I was leaving to go to college on my own weighed heavily on my mind. As expected my eyes started watering. She looked at me and shook her head.

"I thought we agreed no tears" she said wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

"But Tatsuki-chan, I don't want to go without you" I said in between sobs. She held me tighter as my tears became a gushing waterfall.

"I'm joining you in three months! Just hold on till then" She said patting my back. I took a deep breath that failed to clam me down. It's just three months, three months without my best friend in the world that I could do nothing without.

I tried to put a smile on my face but I'm sure it looked more like a pained grimace through my puffy red eyes. She shook her head and pinched my cheeks.

"Don't exaggerate, this is college! Your chance to explore and go a little wild till I get there" She said smiling although I could see she was also blinking away some tears.

Tatsuki was going to Tokyo for three months to study as an apprentice to a martial artist professional in some big shot university. It was such a huge honor and probably our school's proudest achievement this year. I was proud of her and completely overjoyed until I found out I'd have to go to Ishigawa University on my own.

"I'll be fine." I say to stop Tatsuki from worrying, as I know she would.

"Don't have too much fun" she says smiling. I almost burst into tears again but instead I pull a shaky thumb up. She shakes her head at me and pulls me into another hug.

As expected I spent the entire taxi ride crying in the back seat. I must have made the taxi man uncomfortable because he tried to cheer me up by playing some cheerful music. He played a song I knew, a song Tatsuki and I had danced to many times. This of course resulted in me crying louder. The confused taxi man started sweating and sped up to reach our destination faster.

Although Karakura was a small town, Ishigawa University was a very prestigious university and I had been ecstatic when I'd gotten accepted. The taxi pulled up in front of the huge black gates. It was huge, the building was a mix between modern and old architecture. I could stare at it forever but I had to help the taxi driver with my luggage. After I paid him he looked at me awkwardly before he said in a sympathetic tone, "Good luck. It won't be that bad"

I smiled for the first time today and he nodded before entering his taxi and driving away. I felt silly for bawling like a child but I tried to cheer myself up.

Tatsuki's instructions were;

1\. Don't shed a single tear when you get there, smile and have fun.

2\. Don't have too much fun, stay the fuck away from people that I wouldn't approve of.

My luggage wasn't too heavy and I didn't have any trouble dragging it to what I guessed was the administration office. The secretary there seemed bored and she completed my registration without smiling once. I didn't let it bother me though; she probably had a long day. I thank her politely when she hands me my schedule and a map of the campus. She returns my smile and I leave the office.

I feel a tingly excitement as I walk the distance to the dormitories. By the time I reach there, I'm panting slightly and my arms are starting to cramp up. When I realize my room is on the third floor I almost faint but thankfully there is an elevator. I drag my luggage to the open lift. Before I get there a tall boy with spiky orange hair enters first. He presses the button before I could enter.

"Hold the lift please!" I yell walking faster as the doors begin closing. The boy ignores me and pushes his hands into his pocket, the doors are closing but I jump in the second before they close. I pull my boxes in and try not to glare at him. He notices my disapproving look and shrugs.

In the silence of the lift I can't help staring at him from the corner of my eye. He was wearing a leather jacket, the type with spikes that said 'don't touch me' He was wearing torn jeans to complete his bad boy look. Except he didn't look anything like a boy, he was more like a man-boy.

The lift stops and I pull my stuff out with my stiff arms. I want nothing more than to crash on the nearest bed, as I walk towards my room I notice the boy came off at the same floor. I don't think much about it but when he starts walking down the same hallway I start feeling uncomfortable. I walk faster and reach my room.

My eyes widen when I see him standing right behind me, I stand there staring at him in shock. Why was he following me? With the deep scowl on his face, he looked scary. The type of scary that you don't want following you to the place you sleep. I don't even know what to say, is this the part where I beg for mercy? Or is it too soon for that?

"Are you going in or not?" he says raising a brow at me. I gasp and I'm not sure if it's because of his question or because of how his deep voice sent chills down my spine.

When I don't answer he reaches past me and opens the door. I look down at the piece of paper with my room number on it, maybe I made a mistake, and maybe this isn't my room. However when I looked down the information I had told me I was right, this should be my room. I carefully push open the door the boy had left ajar and look inside.

What I see inside almost has me walking the opposite way, there are about five people lounging in the room.

The boy that just walked in lay on one of the beds and made himself comfortable on the bed. On the other bed there was a girl whose hair was much like my auburn hair playing with her phone, A kid with white hair reading a book and two guys that were arguing loudly. I stood there extremely confused, finally the girl noticed me.

"Oh! You must be Orihime! I'm Rangiku, your roommate!" She hugged me extremely tightly and I was a bit surprised but I smiled at her anyways.

"Nice to meet you" I said dropping my bags.

"Oh my gosh! You're absolutely hot! I'm so glad! My roommate last year was a total bore! But I'm so glad!" She immediately started playing with my hair and pulling my cheeks. I had no idea what to say to that so I smiled.

"Oh right! I'll introduce these guys to you. Ok the baldy over there is Ikkaku and-

"Who the hell are you calling bald?! I'm like this by choice!" The bald guy shouted loudly, he was completely bald, his head was shining like a light bulb. On top of that he was wearing some kind of red eyeliner and his eyebrow was pierced. I couldn't help staring.

"Hey you! Are you staring at my hair?!" he yelled at me so loudly I jumped

"What hair?" the guy next to him said.

"That's Renji" Rangiku said beside me, Renji had long bright red hair tied up in a pony tail but what was extremely fascinating about Renji were the tattoos that were peeking up from his chest and circled his face and joined to his eyebrows. Again I found myself staring. I had never seen people as…colorful as these guys.

"That cutie over there is Toushiro" Matsumoto said pointing at the white haired kid. I tore my eyes away from the bald guy and the flame haired guys to look at the white haired kid.

"That's Hitsugaya to you!" he said frowning adorably.

"Yes sir!" Rangiku said in a joking tone, she turned to me and whispered loudly, "He's kind of a teacher" I must have looked surprised because Rangiku smiled; he looked like a high school kid and a short one at that.

"He's kind of a genius prodigy so he's a researcher for the university. He doesn't actually teach" she reassured me.

"Wow! That's unbelievable! You must be a genius Toushi- I mean Hitsugaya-san" I said smiling at him. He blushed and crossed his arms clearing his throat.

Rangiku laughed and Hitsugaya glared at her.

"It's nice to meet all of you" I said smiling politely at each of them. They either ignored me or nodded.

"So come on make yourself at home! This is your room!" Rangiku spread her arms out. "This one is my closet, the one on that side is yours, the study desk is for both of us but you might as well call it yours I only use it as a coffee table. Oh, and this is my bed and that one is yours." She pointed at the bed with the orange haired boy on it.

"The rude human being on your bed is Ichigo." Rangiku said pointing at who I now knew was Ichigo. He hadn't been paying attention to anything that we had said so far and he didn't even look up.

I wanted to sit down somewhere to take off these shoes that were starting to kill me but I felt so awkward I didn't know what to do. Rangiku stared at me clueless and I smiled back, still standing by the door awkwardly.

"Uhmm we should leave" Hitsugaya said. He stood up and Ikkaku and Renji got up too.

"You guys are leaving? I thought we could get to know each other, I mean…" Rangiku pouted.

"She must be tired, let her get settled before you pester her" Hitsugaya said pulling Rangiku away towards the door.

"Aren't you going to leave bastard?" Renji yelled at Ichigo. Ichigo glared at Renji and then shot me an annoyed look. Without a word he got up and left. When the room was empty I took a deep breath. I felt so overwhelmed all of a sudden. The weight of leaving home hit me and I tried to slow down my breathing. I had to get used to this, I had to adjust.

I distracted myself by unpacking all my clothes into the closet Rangiku had said was mine. It didn't take long but I was so exhausted all I could think about was how much I wanted to sleep. Instead of sleeping I decided to take a shower. I took my towel and shower things and hurried down the hallway to the bathroom.

The hot water felt like heaven, I washed my hair and brushed my teeth. After I felt completely refreshed I walked back to my room. My mood was brighter and I was smiling at myself. When I opened the door and closed it behind me I screamed.

Ichigo was standing in the room; he looked up when I screamed. I was wearing nothing but a towel and he was looking at me up and down slowly.

"What are you doing in here?!" I whisper shouted. My heart beat sped up at the look on his face and I'm sure I was blushing as red as a tomato.

"I left my jacket" he said holding up the leather jacket in his hand. He started walking towards me and I quickly moved away. But right then I heard a ripping sound. In horror I froze. Looking back I saw that my towel had caught on the door. Slowly I looked down at myself and then slowly up at Ichigo.

I was standing there in front of him completely naked. Completely, butt naked.

You know those moments that last forever? Where time seems to move in slow motion, when your body seems to move so slow no matter how hard you try you can't react fast enough? This was one of those moments for me. As I stood there completely naked in front of Ichigo, our eyes staring at each other's, mine in horror, his in shock. I could not move fast enough. His eyes slowly lowered as my hands tried to cover up whatever skin they could. I screamed and my body finally sprang into action.

I jumped forward and slapped my hands over Ichigo's eyes. This was a very wrong move because he fell backwards onto the bed with me on top of him. This situation just became a hundred times more embarrassing. I was lying down naked on top of a guy I met an hour earlier! I was about to explode but I didn't take my hands off his eyes.

"I'm sorry! But... don't look!" He smirked and chuckled.

"Why are you so embarrassed?" he asked, his voice was rough and I started feeling hot and squeamish.

"I-…"

"I mean underneath those bulky church clothes, you're pretty hot." My face became hot.

"Y-you saw?"

"Yes, I did. I saw everything so can you take your hands off my eyes now. Not that I'm complaining having you naked on top of me."

My whole body grew hot and I found my chest beating faster and faster almost to a point it was painful.

"Promise not to look" I said quietly.

"I've already-"

"Just keep your eyes closed please!" I pleaded with him. He sighed before he nodded. Slowly I took my hands off his eyes. Like he promised they were closed. For a second I looked at him, and again I noticed he was completely flawless. I slowly got off him and without turning my back to him, I walked back to the door. I pulled my towel from the door. It wasn't torn so I wrapped it around myself again.

"Y-you can open your eyes again" I said with a blush on my face. He opened his eyes slowly and I almost gasped at the beautiful sight of his chocolate brown eyes. He stood up and picked up his jacket. He passed me and left. I don't know if I was disappointed or glad he didn't say anything. Either way my heart was beating long after he left.

 **AN: Leave me a review to let me know what you guys think. Till later :D**


	2. Chapter 2: Mr Get-out-now

**AN: Thank a billion to everyone who read the last chapter! Here's another one!**

 **Chapter 2: "Mr. Get-out-now"**

Every time I close my eyes, I remember what happened. Ichigo was the first guy to ever see me naked and the circumstances were unbelievably embarrassing, to make it worse, I had tackled him and thrown both of us onto the bed. Is there a technique to erase unpleasant memories? Where is the delete button of my brain? I just hoped that Ichigo wasn't close to Rangiku and that he didn't stop by often because the next time I see him I might die of embarrassment.

Although I had been exhausted earlier, tossing and turning around my bed thinking about Ichigo had totally wiped away my exhaustion. I needed to occupy myself. It was 10:00 pm and the night was still young, perfect for studying. I pulled out my notebooks and began reading my notes. I had read the entire syllabus of all my subjects and had already started studying the course work. My colorful highlighted notes somehow called me and I almost completely forgot the earlier incident… wait never mind I just remembered it again.

The door opened and Rangiku ran in. She was clearly in a rush, she almost didn't notice me as she frantically began undressing.

"Orihime-chan! Good you're here" she said tying her hair up into a bun.

"Yeah, uhmm what's up?" I asked her.

"Quick, hurry up! We have to get ready fast" she walked to her closet and began rummaging through it.

"For what? Are you going somewhere?" I asked confused. She slipped on a tight short leather skirt and began searching for a top to match it.

" _We_ are going to a party" she said without looking back at me, she found a shiny golden crop top and threw it on, I would like to point out that she did not put on a bra and that crop top covered as much skin as a handkerchief would but it was so shiny I loved it.

"I can't go to a party, uhmm I mean I don't really want to" I said, I looked down at my comfy fuzzy bunny pajamas. I felt so comfortable and warm moving sounded like torture.

"But you have to go! It's Saturday and I've been bragging about my new roommate so you see, it would be rude _not_ to go" she smiled at me smugly.

"I don't know Rangiku-san, I have a lot of studying to do" I said pointing at my open notebook.

"Studying? Classes haven't even started yet! What are you studying?" She looked at me incredulously.

"Well... Just you know reading ahead, I like to be prepared" I mumbled blushing at the bizarre look she gave me.

"Come on! Is studying ahead better than making lifelong bonds with friends?" she said pouting. I was still hesitating, it's past 10 at night, what fun could i possibly have this late? Rangiku sighed.

"Ok then, I guess I won't go either" she started taking off her skirt.

"No! you can still go! You're dressed and everything, go on have fun!" I said, waving my arms nervously.

"No, I can't possibly show myself there. I bragged about you to everyone and they'd be soo disappointed if I showed up without you. You see they were excited to meet you and all." She said it with a tear slipping out of the corner of her eye.

Is this what they call emotional blackmail? Well it worked.

"I-in that case, let's go" I said. Rangiku's pout disappeared replaced by a wide grin.

"Yes! Come on! Get dressed!" she said jumping excitedly. I didn't really want to take off my fuzzy pajamas but I guess this is what Tatsuki-chan would call a golden chance to go out there and make new friends. I opened my closet to find something wearable to a party. I took off my fuzzy pajamas and reached for my white flowery dress.

It was one of my favorite dresses and I wore it in the hopes that I might make friends in this party. I pulled on my black stockings and left my hair down. Rangiku was putting on her makeup and only turned when I told her I was ready.

"Ok then let's-" she started saying but then froze.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked looking around. "Is there something on my face?"

"No but… do you have some kind of skin condition?" she asked.

"Skin condition?" I touched my face in panic, i was scared I had sprouted purple warts on my face like I'd always feared I might.

"Yeah a skin condition where... I don't know you'll burn if you show even a little skin? You're wrapped up like a mummy" she pointed at my dress as if it was a three headed monster.

"The dress? It's knee length" I said looking down at what I was wearing.

"Exactly! It's knee length! And you're wearing black stockings under that!"

"Well this is how i usually dress..." I was blushing for some reason.

"You have hot legs! And huge boobs! Don't selfishly keep them to yourself!" she said pointing at my chest. I covered my hands over my chest and my blush deepened.

"I-I really like this dress! And I want to wear it" I said pouting; Rangiku sighed and nodded with exaggerated sadness.

"But take off those stockings or I'll strip you myself and you're wearing my heels. You do know how to walk in heels right?" she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Uhmm…theoretically?" I said smiling nervously.

Rangiku gave me a pair of heels and made me walk with them in front of her, she nodded when she was finally satisfied I wouldn't fall on my face. I wasn't used to doing so many girly things like dressing together and doing each other's makeup. Tatsuki was my whole world but she preferred sports and stuff to girly things. I never had any siblings either but Rangiku instantly felt like a sister to me even though I just met her today.

"Well let's go then" She caught up to me and wrapped her arms over my shoulder laughing for no reason.

Apparently Renji was driving us to the party in his car. He had been waiting outside for a long while but when he complained about the long wait Rangiku pinched his cheeks and told him to drive.

The party was off campus in what looked like a fraternity house but Renji explained it was just dorm housing for many students. Renji pulled up outside and Rangiku and I got out while he went to park the car. It was loud, very loud and there were a lot of people. Most of them were holding drinks in red plastic cups, the second we walked through the doors, there was a loud cheer for Rangiku. She held up her hands with a wide grin on her face. She took two of the red cups someone handed her and gave me one.

"Here! Let's have fun" she said with an excited gleam in her eyes. Before I could answer she pulled me deeper into the house. It was so packed I had to squeeze through the crowd, I held on to Rangiku's hand like it was my life line.

"Ahh! There they are" Rangiku said. We had made it out of the sea of people into a slightly less crowded part of the house. There were two sofas around a small table and on the sofas were a mixture of guys and girls.

I recognized Ikkaku but that was all. Rangiku instantly ran forward and sat on a tall guy's lap. He had pale skin and white hair that covered his forehead. He had a sly smile as he whispered something in Rangiku's ear. She laughed and then turned back to me.

"Everyone! This is Orihime my new roommate!" she made a grand gesture as if she was waiting for applause. Everyone stayed quiet but a girl with long green hair coughed.

"That's Nel-chan" Rangiku pointed, "There is Grimmjow-kun" Rangiku continued with the introductions and I tried to remember all these new names.

"Here, we have Soifon and Rukia-chan" she pointed at the two girls on the sofa beside me

I smiled at each of them politely and sat down beside Rangiku. Her arms were now wrapped tightly around the white haired guy's neck and I tried to look away.

"This guy here is Gin" she said ruffling his hair affectionately. They were so cute together I couldn't help smiling.

"Is he your boyfriend" I asked. Rangiku and Gin both pulled disgusted faces.

"What the hell? No! Eew!" Rangiku said. "Why would you even think that?"

I opened my mouth and closed it several times. She was shaking her head at me as she ran her fingers through Gin-san's hair. I was so confused.

"She probably thinks that because you're currently flinging to me like some kind of Koala" Gin said with a smirk on his face.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Rangiku asked actually looking confused. Renji came in just then and sat down in the empty seat beside me.

"Ugh I need a drink. Are you drinking that?" he said pointing at the cup in my hand. I shook my head and handed it to him. He gulped it in one go and I looked around. I noticed Ichigo wasn't here, I sighed in relief. I'm not sure I can face him after the embarrassing encounter we had earlier today. I was blushing just thinking about the way he looked at me.

That was where the conversation ended though, everyone began talking excitedly amongst themselves and when they said a joke out loud and laughed I had no idea what they were saying. If they had picked Star wars or unicorns as a conversation topic, then I'd be able to talk...a lot.

Rangiku occasionally tried to include me by nudging my side and I'd nod as if I knew what they were talking about. I was a pretty social person in high school, really I could get along with everyone but I had no idea what to do here. I racked my brain for possible interesting topic to bring up but my thoughts were interrupted by Rangiku.

"Oh? Orihime-chan, you haven't had a drink? here" she poured me a cup of what I guess is Vodka from a bottle on the table.

"Oh no thank you" I said shaking my head but Rangiku was already passing me the cup. She smiled at me waiting for me to drink.

"I don't really drink though" I said. I started handing back the cup but Rangiku gave me an incredulous look.

"Wait what?" she asked, "Are you pregnant or something?" she asked actually looking concerned. I laughed and shook my head.

"No, I just… don't really drink"

"Why?" Rangiku asked, she looked at me so curiously as if I was a freaky alien specimen.

"Well I've never tasted it so I-" I started saying but Rangiku gasped and held her hands over her heart dramatically.

"How have you never tasted-Well come on! Drink it!" she said. I looked uncertain and she rolled her eyes, "Come on Orihime at least take a sip, Live a little! what's the worst that could happen?" she smiled excitedly and I noticed everyone had stopped talking and were all looking at me.

Peer pressure is real folks.

I put the cup to my lips and took a mouthful. It tasted awful and it burned as it went down my throat. I must have made a face because everyone burst into laughter.

"Why did you bring the goody two shoes to the party?" I heard a voice say behind me. I snapped my head towards the voice that was undoubtedly Ichigo's. I sucked in a breath and swallowed my saliva at the same time and end up coughing like a fool. Everyone laughed again and Rangiku patted me on the back.

"Here" she said passing me a cup. I gulped it down fast but I still didn't like the taste. I cringed and made a face again and everyone laughed again. Ichigo rolled his eyes with a smirk and walked away from the room.

"She's so cute right?!" Rangiku said in between her laughter.

There was a slight buzzing in my head and I frowned. They were still laughing and I narrowed my eyes at that, It's not _that_ funny. I stand up to walk away from them.

So it turns out I can't really handle my liquor well. I'd only drank that one cup but I felt dizzy. The room was spinning slightly and I giggled a few times. I bumped into people as I walked like a pinball. My phone rang and I answered it after reading the name on the screen.

"Tatsuki-chan!" I said in a high-pitched tone. I cleared my throat and tried again, "I mean-Tatsuki-chan!" I said in a deeper voice, I giggled as I realized I sounded like Darth Vader, "I am your father!" I say in a deeper voice.

"Orihime? Hello? Orihime? I can't hear you-why is it so loud?!" Tatsuki-chan yelled on the phone. My eyes snapped open at that. Tatsuki just might drive all the way here if she found out I was drunk at a party where I knew almost no one. I looked around frantically for any quiet place, I took the stairs quickly tripping a few times and weaved through people standing in the hallways.

"Oh sorry about that- uhmm my roommate was just…playing music. Hold on- Rangiku-san? Could you turn that down?" I said making up a story and t alking loud enough for Tatsuki to hear. I opened one of the doors in the hallways and sighed in relief when I found it was empty.

"Yeah Can you hear me now?" I closed the door behind me and pressed my back to the door. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to steady myself. I shook my head to get rid of the buzz but I guess it doesn't work that way.

"Yeah it's ok now." Tatsuki said over the line. "So what's your roommate like?"

"She's nice, i guess" I say, talking slowly so that my words don't sound slurred.

"Are you sure? She's not giving you any trouble?" Tatsuki said her voice sounded defensive. I smiled and felt a tear slip down my cheeks; I miss her so much right now.

"No, everything… everything is fine" I said sniffling.

"Are you really ok? You sound… a bit sad and tired" Tatsuki said but I heard her sniffling too.

"That's because you're not here silly" I said wiping the tears that fell from my eyes.

"Don't start this again! I just called to check on you! Don't try and make me cry! Don't cry!" Tatsuki warned over the phone and I laughed.

"I'm not crying" I lied. Tatsuki went silent for a while and I suspected she was trying to hide the fact she was crying too.

"Andou was asking about you, he was freaking depressed he couldn't see you off" Tatsuki said, I smiled again and nodded even though she couldn't see me.

"Tell him it's ok, I'll call both of you tomorrow" I said and then Tatsuki hung up. I walked to the bed and sat down. I wiped my eyes and took a deep breath. I always hated being alone. Before I became friends with Tatsuki-chan I usually found ways to entertain myself in my little apartment.

But now Tatsuki isn't here, I have to adapt! I try cheering myself up. I nod and take a few breaths. I can do this. Just then the door opened and Ichigo walked in. He paused when he saw me and I didn't move.

"What the fuck are you doing in my room?" Ichigo said in a cold voice. I felt so shocked I couldn't form a response immediately but he raised an eyebrow with a glare.

"Sorry! I was just-" I stammered but he clearly wasn't listening.

"Get out" he said. I blinked at his abruptness. I stood up to leave but then I paused frowning.

"Did you not hear me telling you to get the fuck out?" he repeated his voice louder. I was so taken aback by his harshness I just stood there looking shocked.

"I already apologized for being in here without permission. You don't have to be so mean and rude" I said. For a second I felt so cool and brave, look at me standing up against him like a hero but then Ichigo chuckled and closed the door behind him. After closing the door he turned back and looked at me, this is probably the part I'm supposed to run in fear right? But my whole body was pinned by his eyes. He was glaring daggers at me as he walked towards me slowly. Each step made my heart race faster but I didn't move a muscle even when he reached me.

"I gave you a fair chance to leave, that's me being _nice._ " He says to my face, he sounds annoyed. My legs started working again and I tried moving away from him backwards but I fell onto the bed. Ichigo watched me in amusement, as if he expected that.

"Well then I'll just…go now…please" I said standing up again. I kept my eyes away from Ichigo's dark brown eyes because I was scared they just might paralyze me again but Ichigo was still towering over me. I moved to the side but with a smirk on his face he blocked my way.

"Now you want to leave?" he said in a low voice that sent shivers down my spine, but in this case I was 80% convinced that was due to fear. He takes a step closer and I hold my breath. He's so close I can smell his faint cologne and even feel the heat radiating from his skin. His eyes burn into mine, he comes closer and his lips lightly trace my cheek and he whispers in my ears.

"Get out now"

This time I don't pause to make any heroic smart comments, I walk-ran to the door and tore it open.I close the door behind me and stand in the hallway. My heart is still racing and I feel heat rising to my cheeks. I pull my tongue at the closed door and think of all the comebacks I should have said.

'It's not even a really nice room! Mr. get-out-now' I think nodding to myself.

Outside the room the loudness of the party greets me again. My head is cleared and I make my way back to where I left Rangiku-chan.

Rangiku is laughing loudly with her arm around Renji. She's holding a half empty bottle in her hand and there's a blush on her cheeks. When I walk in she notices me and a wide smile spreads on her face.

"Ori… Orihime!" she says pointing loudly. "My roomie! My love! My squuaad!" she says walking towards me.

"Rangiku-chan. Hey" I say smiling awkwardly as Rangiku hugged me so tightly I couldn't breathe.

"Where did you go? You missed so much! Isn't this fun?" Rangiku says patting my head. She takes a mouthful from the bottle she's holding.

"Haven't you had enough to drink?" I ask only because she's clearly about to pass out but she keeps giggling.

"She had too much to drink 3 bottles ago" Gin says from the sofa. Rangiku pulls a face at him and then sits down beside him. I look at the time and I'm shocked to see its way past midnight.

"Shouldn't we get back?" I ask Rangiku but I stare at Gin for an answer. He gives me that closed eye grin and shrugs.

"Renji is also drunk and I think he drove you guys here" he says and I glance over at Renji who is having a loud argument with Ikkaku. What am I supposed to do now? I still don't know the area so I can't go back to my dorm by myself.

"Uhmm, how does- I mean how does Rangiku-chan usually get back to the dorms after these parties?" I ask.

"She doesn't, she usually stays over. In my room" I groan and he laughs. I sigh and sit back on the sofa. I wasn't sure what to do but the sofa was reasonably comfortable, if it came down to it I wouldn't mind curling up here to sleep, as long as Ichigo didn't show up again.

 **AN: So there you have it folks! leave a review and let me know what you think! Till next time :D Also how's 2016 so far for you guys? Me, I expected a glam up and magical money in my wallet...still waiting.**


	3. Chapter 3: Like a Pro Wrestler

**AN: So my exams are over! yay! here's another chapter! Also I know Ichigo is mean and rude (even I don't like him rn)but hey, we have to start somewhere right?**

Chapter 3: "Like a Pro Wrestler"

Gin had carried Rangiku to his room, she kept mumbling, "Gin, let me goo, I don't want… to sleep yet!" she had said hitting Gin's chest. He was probably used to this because he sighed and carried her away.

I sat there nodding to myself, what now? Less than a minute later, someone sat down where Rangiku had just been. It was a girl with purple hair using her phone. I opened my mouth to say hey or just anything to start a conversation but a boy sat down in the space between us.

"I don't know her, I swear!" he said facing the girl. She rolled her eyes and ignored him. "Mai-chan! You're being unreasonable!" he said raising his voice.

"Unreasonable?! You asshole! You were kissing her! I fucking saw you!" the girl yelled in his face.

I gasped and watched the Drama bomb that just exploded in front of me. I was staring with wide eyes and looking at both of them.

"It was nothing! I swear Mai-chan. Just give me another chance" the guy said holding her hand, he slowly rubbed her hands and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Come on babe, you know you love me" he said moving closer to her. The girl stiffened and shook her head. I wish I had popcorn right now.

"You always do this! this is the third time!" she says in a shaky voice. This scene just became a hundred times more dramatic.

"Just one more chance, I swear you're the only one for me" he put his arm around her and I could see her shoulders relaxing under his touch. She can't possibly believe him?

"Don't do it Mai-chan" I whispered before I could stop myself. I totally forgot I wasn't watching a TV show and that I was in fact watching them like a creep. They both turned to look at me, I laughed awkwardly.

"Sorry about that, you guys carry on…I'll just-go" I stood up and walked away from the couple even though I wanted to know what happens next. I pushed my way through the crowd that showed no sign of going home even though it was way past midnight. How long do parties usually last? It was obvious I couldn't stay here the whole night and I couldn't drive home, there might be buses that run by here. While I'm contemplating a way back to my dorm, I entered the kitchen which was almost empty; Grimmjow was sitting on the counter flipping through his phone. Maybe he could help.

"Hey Grimmjow-kun" I said standing by the counter he nodded and didn't look up.

"So… Do you know if there's any way I could get back to the dorms? are there any buses close by?" I ask him but he still doesn't look up. He takes a sip from the cup beside him and then continues ignoring me.

"Grimmjow-kun? Did you hear me? I was just asking-"

"Yes, I heard you." He cuts me off rolling his eyes.

"And?" I ask when he still doesn't say anything.

"you have a phone don't you? Google it. It's not far from here." He says he gets off the counter and walks away.

"Thank you!" I call after him even though he wasn't very helpful. He turns back to me with a wide smirk.

"Or maybe Ichigo could drive you" he said turning towards the doorway where Ichigo had just appeared. Ichigo glared at him.

"So how about it? Drive her back to the dorms" Grimmjow's smile widens.

"Why should I?" Ichigo says meeting my eyes. I'm not sure if he's still angry about my intrusion in his room a while ago or if he just doesn't like me. His eyes are hard when he stares at me, a scowl perfectly in place.

"No, that's ok. I can make my way back on my own, thank you!" I say pulling up a smile and leaving the kitchen as fast as I can. I leave the party and walk away from the crowd; I take out my phone and try to find the information I need.

Ten minutes later I'm still walking in the direction I hope will take me to my soft, warm comfortable bed. I am really regretting wearing Rangiku's heels now. My very first college party wasn't exactly what I expected. I shook my head to shake off the disappointment I felt. Stay positive, Orihime. It wasn't all bad. I told myself, although it really sucked, the most interesting thing that happened was Mai-chan and her boyfriend drama, I wonder how that ended?

I kept walking with my aching feet but froze when I heard someone scream. It came from the alley ahead; I could hear voices and the grunting sounds of someone getting beat up. I walked towards the alley as quietly as I could and peeped over the corner. There were about five guys beating up a boy, they were kicking him violently as he curled himself up into a ball on the concrete floor. I gasped and looked away.

I pulled out my phone with shaking fingers, I tiptoed away from the alley and dialed 911.

"911 what's your emergen-"

"There are about five guys beating the life out of another guy and there's a lot of blood but they're not stopping! Come with an ambulance" I whispered into the phone. I hung up after telling the operator the address.

Even though help was on the way, I couldn't just wait quietly while the boy was being beat up, he could get really hurt and from the sound of the other guys' laughter it didn't sound like they'll be stopping. I took a deep breath and walked towards the alley. I stood right in the middle like a heroine of justice who shall settle this conflict diplomatically.

"Uhmm- Excuse me? Pardon me?" I said, not exactly very heroine-like.

They all turned towards me, with glares. One of them walked away from the boy on the floor and looked at me up and down. He was tall and bald with a scar across his face.

"What do we have here?" he said with a smile that sent chills down my spine. This was a stupid idea.

"Uhmm… don't you think you're being a little bit…" the words die in throat. This was a very stupid idea. I just hope the police show up before I'm found dead alongside that boy. The guy throws his head back and laughs, the other guys laugh too.

"Listen little rabbit, why don't you get the fuck out of here? I'm in a good mood, so I'll let you go" he says. I feel fear take hold of me, the look on his face terrifies me. There's nothing I can do here. I take one step away and then another. I walk away slowly and I hear them resume their attack on the boy.

I immediately stop. There's no way I could ever walk away from this.

I didn't think about what I did next. I take off my high heeled shoe and threw it at the bald thug and it hit the back off his head. I felt proud of my aim but that was quickly replaced by fear when all five of the guys started walking towards me with anger on their faces. I stumbled back and started running away as fast as I could. I ran as fast as I could on one shoe but I didn't get far.

One of the guys yanked me back from my hair and slammed me onto the brick wall. I cried out in pain but he quickly silenced me by wrapping his hand around my throat tightly. I tried pulling off his hands but it was too tight, I couldn't breathe or make a sound.

Just as I began panicking someone shoved him off me. I fell back onto the wall and held my throat breathing in the sweet air that filled my lungs. I looked up to see Ichigo standing over the guy on the floor. He looked so cool right then, he looked at me and then turned to face the thugs that were looking confused. Ichigo was glaring at them and slowly took a step towards them.

"Get him!" the guy on the floor yelled and pointed at Ichigo. All at once the others ran towards Ichigo, he turned towards me.

"Get out of here!" he yelled back at me kicking one of the guys. I ran to the other end of the alley where the boy lay. I winced when I saw the condition he was in, his nose was bleeding heavily and one of his eyes was swollen shut.

"Hey, are you ok? Can you stand" I knelt down beside him. He opened one eye and nodded. He must be in too much pain to speak. My heart ached for him and I gently tried helping him up. I had to get him away from here. I looked towards Ichigo fighting. Although all of them looked physically bigger than Ichigo was, Ichigo was clearly a better fighter. He was faster than they were, and he easily dodged all their clumsy attacks.

I slowly walked out of the alley supporting most of the boy's weight. I led him towards a bench on the sidewalk and gently lay him down.

"Stay right here, ok? There's an ambulance on the way, I'll be right back" I said before I ran back towards the alley. I hoped Ichigo hadn't gotten hurt.

The thugs used their numbers against Ichigo, three of them held Ichigo while the bald guy punched Ichigo. He grunted in pain and struggled to free his arms.

I screamed when the bald guy punched Ichigo across the face. Ichigo turned to look at me, he frowned at me.

"What the hell are you still doing here? I told you to-" he said but the bald guy punched him again and Ichigo grunted.

"Isn't this a heartbreaking scene? Your girlfriend here is going to watch me fuck up your pretty face" the bald thug said laughing as he punched Ichigo's face again.

I racked my brains on how to help him. I'd never been in a fight before and I didn't know the first thing about fighting but I couldn't just leave Ichigo, he had saved me. I ran towards the bald guy and threw myself at him. I literally threw myself at him, wrapping my legs around him and using my arms to hold his head.

"What the fuck?! Get off me!" he yelled and I held on tighter as he tried to shake me off. He tripped and fell towards one of the guys holding Ichigo and like dominos they all fell on top of each other. I quickly got off him before he could get up.

Ichigo stood up to and kicked one of the guys still on the floor. He snarled at them as he held the bald guy by the collar, punching him again and again, he slammed him onto the wall and continued pummelling his face. He kicked one of the guys that had run forward to stop him. He didn't stop punching him even when blood ran freely from his nose. I was scared he'll kill him.

"Ichigo stop!" I called out. Ichigo froze just as he was about to hit him again. He let go of the guy and took a step back panting, he turned his eyes burning in fury at the others.

"COME ON THEN!" he roared and the four of them stepped back. Ichigo was panting heavily watching them. The bald guy crawled away holding his bleeding nose.

"Let's get out of here" he said walking away from the alley and they all ran the opposite way.

Ichigo was pacing back and forth still breathing heavily. His lip was bleeding, I walked towards him slowly. He wasn't looking at me and he jumped when I gently brushed his arm.

"Ichigo?" I said quietly. His brown eyes met mine as his breath came back to normal. He shook his head and sighed.

"How the hell do you get yourself in a situation like this?!" he said loudly.

"They were beating up that boy- I was just trying to help" I said.

"Yeah, how did that work out? You were quite helpful I see" he says sarcastically. He was scowling at me as if I did something wrong. Should I have walked away? There's no way I could have walked away, I had to do something, I don't need him to tell me I didn't exactly 'help' but I tried. I bit back the words I wanted to say and start walking away from him.

"Where are you going now? Going to find another pack of thugs to piss off?" he called back at me.

I walked over to the boy on the bench. His eyes were closed but he was just sleeping I guess. I didn't have anything that would help him; I only had a small handkerchief in my little bag. I began softly wiping the blood on his face, he winced in pain.

"Sorry" I said to him. He looked younger than me, how did he end up in all that trouble? Ichigo walked up to me, he stood beside the bench watching me.

"What the hell were you thinking? If I hadn't come you'd be… in trouble" he said. I stood up and faced Ichigo. I took a deep breath and tried to hide my frustration.

"Should I just have walked away?" I asked him, "I didn't think about it, I just did what I thought was right at the moment"

Ichigo sighed and his face softened a little, "That's really stupid" he said but he didn't sound angry anymore.

"Thank you" I said smiling, "You saved me"

Ichigo turned away from me and shrugged, "Yeah well" he cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck.

"Are you hurt?" I asked him moving closer to see if I could see any injuries besides the cut on this lip. He had a purple bruise on his cheek but he didn't seem to be hurt seriously.

"No, I'm fine-" he paused and looked at me closer, he reached forward and tilted my chin up.

"What the fuck are these?" he asked still staring at my neck closely. I touched it and felt the soreness, I'm sure it must be bruised.

"Oh, it's just a bruise I guess" I stepped away from him realizing how close we were.

"Those assholes did that to you?" he asked, his voice sounded dangerously calm. I didn't answer and Ichigo took a deep breath. He clenched and unclenched his fist.

"What were you doing here though?" I asked Ichigo to change the subject.

"That's not important" Ichigo said crossing his arms over his chest. I'm about to ask again but the boy on the bench groaned. I turn away from Ichigo and hurry to him.

"Don't worry; the ambulance will be here soon" I say to comfort him. He coughs and holds his sides, I feel so bad that there's nothing I can do to help.

"Wait you called the police?" Ichigo asked.

"Well yeah. I wasn't just going to charge in there without a plan" I said smiling, Ichigo surprised me by smiling too. He looked beautiful smiling I decided.

"Oh so you had a plan? Was it to tackle him like a pro wrestler?" he asked with the small smile still on his face.

"Well, I had to do something" I mumbled blushing. Ichigo threw his head back and laughed. I looked at him and felt my heart twist, his eyes were closed and his laugh poured out of smile. I quickly turned away and held my hand to my pounding chest. What's wrong with me?

I heard the sound of a siren approaching and Ichigo started walking away. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not going to be here when the cops show up" he said without turning back. I blinked a few times and watched Ichigo as he walked away, well that's suspicious.

The ambulance pulled up right in front of me with police car next to it. The paramedics that jumped out instantly rushed towards the boy on the bench. The cop that came out of the car was really tall and scary, so scary he looked like he was a thug himself. He had spiky black hair and he was wearing an eye patch. He walked towards me and then paused. He turned and looked at Ichigo who was still walking away. He narrowed his eyes and a wide grin spread on his face.

"OII! ICHIGO?! IS THAT YOU?!" he shouted and Ichigo froze. He turned around slowly and with wide eyes he looked at the cop whose grin went wider. Ichigo turned back again and started running away. The cop threw his head back and laughed.

"YOU KNOW I'M GOING TO CATCH YOU!" he said running towards Ichigo who was now running like a mad man.

"GET AWAY!" Ichigo screamed. But the tall cop caught up to him. He dragged Ichigo back from the collar of his jacket.

"Get off me man! Really I didn't do anything?! Do cops go around abusing random people?! Get off!" Ichigo pushed him away and the cop just laughed again.

"You know I can't let you go if you were at the scene. You know you're on probation" the cop said.

"What?! Kenpachi listen, I had nothing to do with this whole thing!" Ichigo yells. The cop rolls his eyes obviously not believing him.

"Yeah right, you're all bruised up because you ran into a pole" the cop says. He grabs Ichigo again, "Come on, I'm taking you to the station"

"Uhmm! E-excuse me?...Sir?" I called out to the cop who turned back at me with a raised eyebrow. He had a scar that ran down his face.

"What?" he asked, I gulped down my uneasiness, he really was scary.

"Ichigo didn't have anything to do with it, he was just here to help" I said. The cop blinked in surprise and Ichigo pulled himself away from him.

"You see!" he said with a smug look on his face.

"So you're the one that called, you saw everything?" the cop asked turning his attention to me.

"Yes...sir" I said nodding vigorously.

"Well then i need you to come down to the station with me" he said. I must have looked terrified because he rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Oh relax, girly. We just need to take down your statement" he walked to the car and held it open. I walked in and sat down. I felt so nervous and thrilled. I'm in a police car! This night just kept getting more interesting.

"You too Ichigo"

"What the hell Kenpachi?! She just told you I didn't do anything" Ichigo said loudly.

"Will you fucking chill?! I need your statement too! and I'd prefer you didn't struggle"

Ichigo grumbled loudly and cursed the cop under his breath before he entered the car and sat next to me. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Great, just fucking great"

 **AN: So there it is folks! leave a review and let me know what you think. I hope you guys are enjoying this! Ichigo will probably start acting nice soon...or will he?**


	4. Chapter 4: Angry tears

Chapter 4 : Angry tears

"Wouldn't it be awesome if he turned on the siren?" I whispered to Ichigo. He was leaning against the window with his eyes closed but he opened one eye to look at me.

"Why are you so excited about all this?" he asked.

"Because it is exciting! an unexpected adventure!" I smiled at him but Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"I guess for a goody two shoes like yourself this is the closest you've ever come to any trouble" He gave me a sarcastic look and I narrowed my eyes at that. Should I be offended by what he just said? It's true that I don't get in trouble at all but that's not a bad thing though. He doesn't even know anything about me, how could he just assume I was a goody two shoes? although maybe I am.

"I'm right aren't I?" Ichigo pressed leaning towards me, I moved away from him and cleared my throat. He chuckled under his breath and leaned back onto the window.

"W-what about you? Why were you so scared of the cops? Is it because you're on probation?" I asked him. He sat up straight and turned to scowl at me.

"I wasn't scared and it's none of your business" he said defensively. I almost laughed.

"But you were running away" I added and I could have sworn Ichigo blushed.

"Running? I was walking very fast away from you and that lunatic"

"Oh right… walking fast, while screaming 'GET AWAY!' right?" I said nodding. Ichigo opened his mouth to say something but the sound of Kenpachi's laughter interrupted.

"You always run from me Ichigo! Here I thought we bonded when we last fought" Kenpachi said laughing loudly. Ichigo's face was red and he glared at Kenpachi.

"Just shut up and drive!" Ichigo said, he gave me a scowl before he turned to face the window again.

The car pulled up outside a police station. Kenpachi jumped out of the car and walked ahead of us. I assume he expected us to follow him, so I did. Ichigo walked next to me with his hands in his pockets. As soon as we pushed the doors open and stepped in, it was almost like every police officer stopped what they were doing and looked at us or more specifically at Ichigo. They were silent for about a minute and then every police officer uniformly groaned or booed some even slamming fists on their desks.

There was a chorus of "Not again!" or "Seriously?! He's back?!" someone even threw a scrunched up piece of paper that Ichigo dodged. Ichigo rolled his eyes and glared at each of them. I shrank next to Ichigo and walked faster. Kenpachi led us to a desk further into the large room and told us to sit down gruffly, he walked away after that and left us to wait.

"Uhhmm… Ichigo, why are you on probation again?" I asked in a low voice. I hadn't bothered asking before but it seemed like every police officer here knew Ichigo and I'm guessing it wasn't because he was an outstanding citizen.

"Just a couple of things…here and there" Ichigo said shrugging. Somehow that didn't reassure me.

"A couple of things? You're practically famous here Kurosaki Ichigo" A police officer said taking a seat behind the desk. He had long black hair and a stoic expression on his face and he stared at Ichigo with grey eyes. Ichigo matched his stare defiantly and sat up straighter. "I could list all his offences but we might stay here all night"

"So what childish stunt did you pull this time?" the police officer said in a clipped tone.

"Absolutely nothing, Byakuya" Ichigo said.

Byakuya's eyes moved to me and I sat up straighter, although he looked pretty young for a police officer he carried himself with an attitude that demanded respect, like royalty looking down at you.

"Kenpachi, what is this?" he said looking at me. Kenpachi who had seated himself on another desk with his feet propped up rolled his eyes. He was twirling a gun around with one finger. Kenpachi mumbled an explanation looking bored the whole time. Between Kenpachi's gun and Byakuya's piercing eyes, I didn't know which one scared me more.

"You." Byakuya said to me after Kenpachi was done.

"Yes! S-sir!" I said in a louder voice than I intended.

"Explain everything. Make it quick." He said.

I explained everything, down to the very last detail. I was so nervous I was talking so fast I'm sure I sounded like a chipmunk high on caffeine. When I was done Byakuya closed his eyes and sighed.

"You went out on your own at 1:00 am?" he asked and I nodded vigorously.

"You heard a scream in a dark alley and you walked _towards_ it?" he asked and I nodded again, slower this time because it sounded really stupid now that he said it. Ichigo sat quietly beside me, but he was clearly restless. He drummed his fingers on his knee while he looked around, scowling at everyone.

"Under different circumstances, you would be dead" Byakuya said and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Would you be able to describe the culprits?" Byakuya asked me.

"There were about five of them, one of them-" I started saying but Ichigo interrupted me.

"They were the rats from downtown Hueco mundo. I don't know them or what they wanted but if you ask around it shouldn't be too hard to find them" Ichigo shrugged when he was done talking, I looked at him with a mix of awe and fear. I couldn't even guess what kind of situations Ichigo had been part of. A mafia? Or a gang? Maybe he was a pirate. I was trying to picture Ichigo dressed as a pirate but Byakuya started speaking.

"I guessed as much" he sighed and arranged the papers on his desk. "Kurosaki Ichigo, This will not count as a violation of your probation. You actually made yourself useful" he said although the look of disapproval was still clear on his face. Ichigo stood up and shoved his hands into his pocket.

"Then can I go now?" Byakuya narrowed his eyes clearly annoyed by Ichigo's attitude.

"Yes, you may leave now" he said clearing his throat. Ichigo immediately walked towards the exit without looking back. I stood up too but paused.

"Uhmm excuse me sir? But what about that kid that got hurt? Is he ok?" I asked. Byakuya looked at me for a moment before answering.

"Although this matter does not concern you further, I suppose you deserve to know. This isn't the first time Hanataro Yamada has been in a situation like this. He often gets in trouble for his father's debts… do not concern yourself, we will ensure his safety. Do not look down on the law, girl" Byakuya said with the same stoic expression. I smiled widely and thanked him. He cleared his throat again and I took that as my cue to leave.

I expected Ichigo to have been gone by now but he was standing outside leaning against the wall with his hands in his pocket. He was kicking at the dirt on the floor with his black boots and looked up when I walked towards him.

"What were you talking about with him?" Ichigo asked frowning at me.

"I was asking about that kid that got beaten up. He'll be fine now, I think" I said sighing in relief. Ichigo gave me a strange look and then shook his head. He pushed himself off the wall and started walking away.

"Where are you going?" I called after him.

"I left something in your dorm. So if you want to get back…follow me" he said. I jogged forward to catch up to him.

"You left something? What?" I asked him.

"Just-something" he mumbled. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Did you really leave something or are you being nice right now?" I asked him. He scoffed and walked faster.

"If I say I fucking left something at your dorm then I fucking left something at your dorm! Don't think too much about it and just follow me" He said turning back to glare at me. I sighed, why can't he just be nice? I walk beside Ichigo in silence for a while. I don't like awkward silences but with Ichigo I'm not sure what will set him off.

I focus on putting one foot in front of the other, these heels were starting to feel like fabulous torture devices and I try to ignore the pain in my feet although it stings. He glances at me after a while and then says, "We're almost there"

I almost cried in relief when I saw the gates of the school, Ichigo and I walked to the dorms and entered the building. By now it's about 3:00 am so of course we were greeted by silence. Our footsteps echoed in the empty hallway and when we finally got up to my room I sank into the bed as Ichigo closed the door behind him.

I took off my shoes and cried out in relief. "Oh thank God! I was scared my feet would start bleeding before we got here" I massaged my feet to ease the ache. Ichigo was leaning against the closet beside me with his hands in his pockets; he was staring at his boots in fascination.

"Why do you wear shoes like that in the first place? You don't seem like the type of girl who usually wears heels" he says without looking up.

"I just wanted to try it. Tonight was the first time I've been to a college party; I wanted to look the part. You know?" I said. Ichigo sighed and laughed humorlessly.

"So you were trying to fit in?" he says facing me. "You really are a goody two shoes aren't you?" He walks slowly towards me until he's standing above me.

"I don't think it's right to make assumptions about me, Ichigo. We just met today" I said, I tried to meet his eyes but they were practically piercing into me. I felt uneasy again and my heart started racing again.

"I'm not wrong though am I? What more is there to know? you're just like everyone else" he leaned down so that his face was right in front of mine, with his fingers he softly brushed my auburn hair to the side. I stiffened and held my breath.

"It was your first college party, so what? You wanted to be a little wild for the first time in your life? Is that why you were in my room?" he says in a low tone.

"W-what? That's not-" I start saying but Ichigo chuckles under his breath rolling his eyes before he straightens up, towering above me again.

Is he suggesting that I entered his room to…seduce him? I would laugh if I wasn't so angry I could scream. My face gets hot and I feel my breath get heavier.

"Are you crying?" he says looking uncomfortable.

"No! I'm not!" I yell although my eyes are watering. I stand up and cross my arms over my chest. My face is still hot with anger and I'm either going to scream into my pillow or cry into my pillow and I'd rather Ichigo not witness either of those.

"I apologized for being in your room already! I did not know it was your room! I barely know the way to my own room! How would I know yours?! And don't call me a goody two shoes when you don't know anything about me! That's very… impolite!" I say very fast without breathing.

Ichigo stares at me with wide eyes; he probably didn't expect me to burst like that. Neither did I. Silence follows my outburst. We're both looking at each other without blinking as if this is a blinking contest. Ichigo finally steps back and sighs looking down at his boots again.

"Well I didn't mean it that way" he says clearing his throat.

"Then what did you mean?" I say in frustration throwing my arms up in defeat.

"Nothing just never mind, forget what I said"

"You can't just say never mind, you have to apologize" I say firmly, pressing my hands on my hips.

"Apologize? Why?" Ichigo scoffs and rolls his eyes.

He's not going to apologize? This makes me even angrier, I take deep breaths to calm myself but my face still feels hot and I feel the annoying angry tears slipping down my cheeks. I hate that I get teary eyed when I'm angry. Of course generally I don't get angry, Ichigo just effortlessly brought out that part of me. Ichigo sees my tears and he visibly cringes.

"Fuck- don't cry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" he reaches forward and wipes at my tears with both his thumbs. I stare at him in confusion. Less than two minutes ago he was being a jerk and now he is being sweet?

He stops wiping my tears and his eyes look into mine. He looks perplexed and he doesn't seem to notice that his thumb is lightly tracing circles on my cheek. It felt like those times that you blank out and stare into nothing without blinking, except I wasn't staring at nothing. I was staring at Ichigo's eyes, they were so fascinating. There was a whirlpool of emotions swirling in his eyes that I didn't understand, that maybe he didn't understand either.

Ichigo blinked and snatched his hand away from my face as if he just got burned. He frowned and looked down at his own hand and then looked at me again. He walked to the door, opened it and left.

I woke up to the sound of the door being slammed open. Matsumoto stood by the door with her hands on her hips. Her hair was a mess and she gave me a disapproving look.

"Orihime! Why didn't you tell me you left last night?! We're roomies! You should have called at least!" Rangiku sits on the edge of my bed and throws her arms around me, squeezing my shoulders.

"Sorry" I mumble, I blink a few times and yawn loudly. Rangiku lets me go and I sit up. I give her a smile; it makes me happy to see she was worried about me.

"How did you get back? I was worried you might have gotten lost or something"

Like a slap in the face everything that happened last night rushes back to me. I'm not sure how to begin explaining everything that happened to Rangiku when I'm not sure if I didn't imagine half of it.

"Well uhmm- Ichigo helped me" I say, which is true, he did help me get back. Despite the things he said afterwards he did help me out. Rangiku gasps and looks at me in shock.

"Ichigo walked you back here?" she sits closer to me and waits for my answer.

"Y-yeah he did"

Rangiku gives me a look and then laughs maniacally, she then stands up and skips to her bed while I watch her in confusion.

After getting dressed I go out to explore the school. It's bigger than I expected, and I feel like a tourist looking around in wonder. I take pictures of every random thing, the bench next to a dried up fountain, there was a yoga class being held on the green grass. I'm basically skipping around and I breathe in the fresh air with an ear to ear grin.

My eyes are drawn to a tree I had over looked, there was someone lying underneath the shade of the tree and I could tell even from a distance that it was Ichigo. I take a few tentative steps closer to him and then hesitate. How do I speak to him after yesterday? I can't avoid him, so I might as well try to be friends I decide to myself.

As I reach the tree, I can see Ichigo clearly. I crouch down next to him and look at his face closer. His eyes are closed and he looks peaceful, his chest rises and falls steadily and his lips are curved slightly as if he was smirking in his sleep. I had only seen Ichigo scowl so seeing him like this was a shock to say the least. I almost don't want to wake him up but I reach out with a finger and nudge him. His eyes snap open and his head turns in my direction. For a second he looks confused and I smile at him. His frown is back in place but then he closes his eyes and turns away.

"Should you be sleeping out here like this?" I ask and Ichigo sighs.

"Why not? I might as well get sleep whenever I can" he mumbles in annoyance and sits up, scratching his hair.

"What do you want?" he asks and I'm at a loss for words. What do I want? Why did I come up to him again?

"U-uhmm I wanted to ask… do you know any places to eat around here?" I babbled the first thing that came to mind, which was food naturally.

Ichigo gave me a look, it was the same look he gave me yesterday, like he was baffled and annoyed at the same time. He pointed at the building behind me with clear, bright, bold letters that said ' **cafeteria** '.

"Oh right! Of course the cafeteria would have food…because it's a cafeteria…with food" I say awkwardly. Trying to be friends with him doesn't seem an easy task. I take a deep breath, its better to let it out, that's the only way.

"Ichigo!" I said a little louder than I meant it. He looked startled.

"W-what?"

"Uhmm I think we should forget everything and get along from now on!" I say nodding vigorously. Ichigo doesn't say anything at first, but then he speaks with narrowed eyes.

"Why? We could just avoid each other, it would be easier"

"Why would it be easier? It would be awkward and you're not a bad person Ichigo so why can't we be friends?" Ichigo is obviously taken aback by my answer but he clears his throat and gains his composure.

"You don't have to say all this shit if you don't mean it" He stands up to leave but I stand in his way.

"So you don't want to be my friend?" I ask him seriously, I'm not sure why he seems on edge around me or why he seems suspicious of everything I say to him.

I don't expect the laughter that pours from Ichigo's mouth, he covers his face but I see the grin spread on his face.

"What the hell was that line? It sounded like something from a kids' TV show, like barney or something 'be my friend!' and you said it with a serious face too!" he laughs louder and I find myself blushing.

"W-well I didn't mean for it to sound cheesy-"

"It did though, it was so cheesy" Ichigo covered his face with both hands to hide his blushing grin but I saw it and I can't help the thought that pops into my head, Ichigo has a cute side too.

"Come on then, let's go" He says after a while.

"Go where?" I ask following behind Ichigo.

"You said you wanted to eat something, let's go. Don't walk so slow" he walked ahead and I jogged after him

 **AN: So there it is! Hope you're enjoying this so far as always, thank you to everyone reading, reviewing, I love you guys. See you next time (not sure when but soon) Leave a review to let me know what you think...bye!**


	5. Chapter 5: Moustache Fail

**AN: Thank you guys for your reviews, they mean so much to me :D Anyways hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I dont' know if anyone will notice the reappearance of Andou, High five if you do.**

Chapter 5: Moustache Fail

Ichigo and I walked into the cafeteria and he led the way towards the counter. It wasn't crowded, maybe because it was a Sunday morning or people just don't like cafeteria food.

"The food here isn't total shit" Ichigo answered my thoughts. He picked up a sandwich with a bottle of coke and looked at me expectantly. I chose a chocolate waffle sandwich and we both take a seat close to the window.

Ichigo doesn't say anything as he bites into his sandwich. He scowls at his sandwich as he chews slowly.

"What's wrong? You don't like it? You can have some of my waffle" I say pushing my plate towards him. He looks at me surprised and shakes his head.

"No it's fine. Uhmm no" he says awkwardly. He bites into his sandwich again but frowns again. I can't help laughing.

"What's wrong with it?"

Ichigo clears his throat and shrugs, "It's nothing…just that you know it's a tuna sandwich with no fucking tuna in it" He shrugs again and takes another bite, frowning at the sandwich as if frowning at it would somehow make it better.

"I thought you said you liked the food here"

"I said it's not total shit, but I guess I was wrong." He sighs and continues eating the tuna-free sandwich. I eat my waffle quietly and neither of us says anything. I'm thinking very hard on what to say to fill up the silence. This is the best chance to solidify our friendship but what do I say?

'Hey Ichigo, remember that time I tackled you down naked?' or 'Hey remember when we fought off those thugs together?'

I nod to myself, yes the second one sounds nice. Just as I'm about to start my mentally rehearsed line I look up at Ichigo. He's staring at me intently and I immediately forget whatever I was about to say.

"W-what?" I stumble through my words because my thoughts have turned to gibberish.

"I can't tell if you're extremely weird or just stupid"

"Haha that would be funny if it wasn't offensive" I roll my eyes in annoyance.

"I'm guessing weird " Ichigo nodded while looking at me.

"I want to deny that but you're positively right. Weird just means I'm limited edition." I say and I'm rewarded with a smile from Ichigo.

"You should get that on a T-shirt" he mumbles shaking his head.

"I actually have a shirt like that" I say and this time he laughs. He looks at me with his lips slightly curved on one side and I can't understand why my heart skips a beat when he looks at me like that. My heart beat gets even more unstable when he reaches across the table with his hand coming closer to my face. His thumb brushes the corner of my lip.

"You have crumbs all over" he says quietly. For a second his eyes linger on my lips but the second passes quickly. He sits back on his seat and clears his throat.

"You eat like a kid" he mumbles and I laugh awkwardly. I know I'm blushing red right now. Ichigo glances at me before he stands up quickly.

"I've got stuff to do… see you around- I guess" he says and then he leaves the cafeteria.

The excitement I felt earlier today stays with me as I go to bed, tomorrow is my first day as a college student. Before I go to bed I call Andou. Andou is Tatsuki's cousin and in many ways, Tatsuki and Andou have become my best friends and my family.

He answers on the first ring.

"Orihime! I've been so worried!" he says through the phone.

"Why were you worried?" I laugh.

"College is a scary place isn't it? And you didn't call yesterday and so I-"

"Everything's fine. Nothing's happened so far." I say, for some reason I don't want to mention Ichigo, it's like I want to keep that part to myself although I'm not sure why.

"How's your roommate? Is she nice? It is a girl right?!" he says in a panicked tone, I laugh again.

"Yeah she's a girl and she's really nice. She seems wild and fun and she's extremely nice"

"OK. That's good I guess." He sighs and I can picture his face.

"I was about to go to bed, I'll call you again later ok?" I say and we hang up after he says goodnight.

When I wake up the next morning I take my shower smiling, I dress up smiling and I smile the whole time it takes me to walk to my class. My first class is Literature and when I walked into the class thirty minutes early I was surprised to see I wasn't the only early bird. There was a boy in the front row; he was wearing glasses and a white button up shirt. He had his black hair parted in the middle and at first glance you might assume he was the teacher. He was reading from a book and didn't look up when I sat down next to him.

"Is this seat taken?" I ask. He looks up and pushes his glasses up his nose.

"No, you can sit here" He says and I smile thanking him.

"I'm Orihime" I said holding out my hand. He didn't smile back but he nodded as he shook my hand.

"Ishida Uryuu" he said and went back to his reading. I'm not sure why but I instantly felt him and I would be great friends.

Several minutes later the class slowly filled up, the room was almost full but the seat next to me was empty. The teacher walked in and pulled out papers from his briefcase. As the teacher was about to speak the door opened and I was surprised to see Ichigo walk in. His eyes found mine and I found my surprise mirrored on his face. I smiled and pointed at the seat next to me. He sat next to me and pulled out a notebook.

"What are you doing here?" I whisper at him.

"Grocery shopping" he answered sarcastically, I rolled my eyes and he sniggered.

"You had to pick the nerdiest seat in the entire classroom?" he whispered.

"Why is this seat nerdy?" I whispered back.

"We're right in front! And we're next to that guy" he pointed at Ishida who sighed and glared at Ichigo.

"We're not all backseat retards Kurosaki" Ishida replied with disdain.

"You two know each other?" I asked. Before Ichigo could reply the teacher began speaking.

"Welcome to Literature, I see some of you from last year but I see many fresh faces. I'm not good with names and faces and students all together. So I'm assigning permanent seats to remember all of you. So I hope you like your current seats, they're going to be yours for the entire semester" He said, Ichigo groaned and I couldn't help giggling.

Ichigo wasn't paying attention the whole class and I didn't really have a problem with that until he dozed off in class. He just folded his arms on the table and closed his eyes. He didn't seem to mind that we were right in front of the teacher or that everyone could see him sleeping. I looked at him baffled to see he was really asleep. I considered leaving him like that. Maybe he didn't get any sleep last night but I don't want him to get in trouble either so I nudge him gently, he doesn't even flinch.

"Ichigo" I whispered shaking his shoulders. He mumbled a stream of rude words but still didn't wake up. I sighed maybe I should just leave him. I turned my attention back to my notes but I found my eyes wandering back to Ichigo. How could he fall asleep so deeply just like that?

I was probably looking for trouble but I got an idea and I couldn't help myself. I gently tickled his nose with the tip of my pen. He wrinkled his nose and sniffed, it was the cutest thing ever and I stared at his face longer than I should have. His eyebrows weren't furrowed in a frown like they normally were; he looked completely peaceful sleeping in the middle of class. It's the perfect opportunity to do something wild and crazy like draw a moustache on his face. As I slowly moved my pen closer to his face, Ichigo sneezed suddenly and somehow my pen went up his nostril.

This was a bad idea.

"OW! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Ichigo yelled and everyone, myself included jumped. Ichigo was holding his hand over his nose and I happened to be holding the guilty weapon in my hands. Ichigo didn't look too happy about me shoving a pen up his nose, the teacher didn't look too happy about the loud interruption and I just wish I wasn't the one holding the pen.

"Both of you out please" the professor said in a clipped tone.

"But she-" Ichigo started saying but the professor held up his hands.

"You can go out and carry on sleeping, both of you just leave immediately"

I didn't even have a single word to say in my defense. You know when you do something incredibly stupid or embarrassing and it haunts you for the rest of your life? This was one of those moments. When Ichigo and I stand outside the class, I stare at my feet in shame while Ichigo glares at me.

"What. Was that about?" Ichigo said each word really slowly but I don't look up from my shoes.

"Orihime? I won't get angry or anything ok? Just tell me why you shoved a pen up my nose" Ichigo said but the smile on his face looked more like a grimace.

"Well…you were sleeping and I was trying to wake you up" I mumbled twiddling my thumbs sheepishly.

"By seeing how far you can push a pen up my nose till you touch my brain?" he says incredulously.

"No. that part was a mistake, I was about to draw a moustache on your face but then you…sneezed and then…you know" I pointed at his nose and Ichigo closed his eyes as if praying for patience.

"Tell me Orihime. Why were you trying to draw a moustache on my face?"

"I don't know, that's what people do to sleeping people." I wait for Ichigo's anger to finally explode but then I see him nodding. He reaches out and pats my shoulder.

"I would have done the same thing to you" he says in a very serious voice. There's silence for a second and then we both start laughing. I was just kicked out of class, why am I laughing? I looked at Ichigo, at the way he bit his bottom lip to stop his smile from spreading and the way his laughter sounded to my ears, it's the type of sound you want to hear again and again.

"The class was boring anyway; getting kicked out is actually a sweet deal" Ichigo shrugged, he glanced at me and opened his mouth to say something but paused, instead he carried his bag over his shoulder and started walking away. I don't follow after him although every part of me wants to stay with him longer to hear his laughter and see the way he tries to hide his smile.

"How were classes?" Rangiku says right after I walk into the room. Ichigo wasn't in any of my other classes and the day went uneventful like it should have in the first place.

"They were really nice; I think art history will be pretty tough but-"

"I heard you got kicked out" Rangiku says wiggling her eyebrow at me.

"How did you-"

"and with Ichigo!" Rangiku walked over to me and held my shoulders tightly.

"That was… well it's a long story" I mumbled, I feel too embarrassed to start explaining how I tried to draw a moustache on him but Rangiku smirks.

"I heard you poked his eye with your pen" she says.

"What?! No! It was just his nose! And it was completely accidental! …Kind of" I defend myself but Rangiku laughs loudly.

"Doesn't matter everyone that meets Ichigo at first would like to poke his eyes out too" she says.

"I really didn't though" I say but Rangiku isn't listening. I'm starting to understand that Rangiku usually only hears what she wants to. She pulls my arm and leads me out the door.

"Where are we going?" I ask following behind her.

"Grimmjow's place, let's just hang out" Rangiku says with a smile. Renji is waiting outside by the car.

"I'm not your damn chauffeur woman!" he grumbles as he starts the car. Rangiku rolls her eyes as we both enter the car. Renji complains the whole drive to Grimmjow's, and Rangiku ignores him by singing the alphabets at the top of her lungs with her ears covered. When the car stops Rangiku runs out pulling me along, she links her arms around mine. We enter the huge house that I recognize as the same one we had the party in last night.

"Ok so at the party we didn't get to bond much, and we haven't gotten a chance to shower together yet so let's really get to know each other" Rangiku says and I smile at her, I'm touched by her comment and I want to hug her.

We enter one of the rooms on the ground floor. In the room, I recognize Gin and Soifon who was sitting next to Grimmjow. They were all playing cards when we came in, Rangiku immediately pushed Gin to make room for the two of us. Gin wrapped his long arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap like it was the most natural thing to do.

"Yay let's play!" Rangiku said excitedly.

We played about 2 different card games, Gin kept winning despite Grimmjow and Rangiku's attempts at cheating.

"Somehow you get worse each time you play Ran-chan" Gin said with his signature sly grin. Rangiku pulled her tongue at him and laughed.

"So where's Ichigo?" I asked Grimmjow. Grimmjow snorted and threw his cards on the floor in annoyance.

"If you're going to mention that asshole you might as well leave" he snarled at me. I was a bit taken aback by his sudden hostility but everyone rolled their eyes.

"Don't tell me you tried something again? Or did he beat you up again?" Rangiku asks in a bored voice.

"That little fucker has been shitting out on me just because of his probation. I'm going to wipe the floor with his ass" Grimmjow said angrily with clenched fists. Everyone sighed collectively; I got the impression that they had all heard this rant a lot of times.

"Did you and Ichigo fight?" I ask Grimmjow.

"The correct question would be when are those two idiots not fighting?" Rangiku says twirling her hair with one finger.

"Shut your face Rangiku! I'm going to beat his ass the next time" Grimmjow says angrily.

"But why do you guys fight?" I ask in confusion.

"Because he pisses me off" Grimmjow says. I frown at that.

"Ichigo isn't a bad person" I say before I can stop myself. Everyone pauses and looks at me.

"I mean he seems to be ok. I mean he's not that bad." I say waving my hands in the air but everyone bursts into laughter.

"Is that why you poked his eye with a pen?!" Rangiku says in between her laughter.

"I didn't poke his eye!" I say but I'm laughing too.

After that no one felt like playing cards anymore and Rangiku got up to leave. She skipped out of the room with Gin and I followed after her but paused, turning back to Grimmjow.

"Uhmm Grimmjow-kun? Why did you and Ichigo fight?" I asked, he gave me an annoyed look but didn't answer so I tried again.

"I mean, the two of you seem to be friends-"

"We are not friends! Don't say stupid shit like that!" Grimmjow yelled loudly, he started pacing around the small space of the room with his fists clenched. I decided now was the perfect time to leave but as I turned towards the door Grimmjow yanked me back. He glared at me with his light blue eyes and held my shoulders tightly. I tried to step out of his grip but he held tighter.

"Ichigo is not a nice little puppy that you can be 'friends' with. If you had half a brain, you'd stay away from him" he said in a cold voice before pushing me out of the door and slamming it shut.

My legs were shaking as I walked out of the house towards the car where Renji and Rangiku were waiting. I didn't say anything the entire ride back to the dorms, my mind kept wandering back to what Grimmjow said. He seemed so serious about it but no matter how I look at it, Ichigo doesn't seem like a bad person. He actually seems really sweet. But then I remember that he is every police officer's enemy for some reason. Maybe I'm being naïve?

 **AN: So there it is folks! Till next time! Leave a review to let me know what you guys think. Love ya!**


	6. Chapter 6 : Red Band aids

**AN: Hey guys! A new chapter! Hurray! Thanks a billion to everyone who reviewed (you mean more to me than my non existent children)**

 **Chapter 6 : Red Band aids**

"Rangiku?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think of Ichigo?"

"Why are you asking?" Rangiku asks with narrowed eyes. We were both in our pajamas-on my bed. Rangiku didn't like sleeping alone.

"Just that Grimmjow doesn't seem to like him but I want to know what you think" I roll to look at her.

"Hmm, Ichigo is our friend but he hardly hangs out with us. He only drinks with us occasionally but don't worry he handles his liquor like a man so I guess he's Ok" Rangiku nods reassuringly. I wasn't sure why being a good drinker makes you trustworthy but I smiled.

"But why does Grimmjow seem to hate him?" I mumble, Rangiku laughs.

"There isn't anyone in this school that Grimmjow hasn't challenged to a fight, he beat Ichigo once and lost to Ichigo once so I guess he just wants to settle the score"

"Oh so it's just a friendly fight?" that relieves me and I close my eyes to sleep until Rangiku speaks again.

"It's not exactly friendly if you both get hospitalized for 2 weeks though"

"What?"

"Good night Orihime, let's sleep" she says cheerfully.

The week flew past me and the weekend met me feeling exhausted. I only had Literature once a week so I didn't see Ichigo even once. I found myself looking for him in every class I walked into, my eyes would search for him under the shade of the trees and the disappointment I felt when I didn't see him confused me. So when Rangiku mentioned a party on Friday I agreed without hesitation, maybe I'll bump into Ichigo.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Rangiku said excitedly although she says that about everything.

"Yay!" I say clapping my hands. The excitement grows in the pit of my stomach and I find myself rummaging through my clothes for something to wear. Each outfit I pulled out gained a disapproving headshake from Rangiku.

"Too long" she shook her head at my blue dress.

"What is that pattern?" she said in horror at my green dress with a Yoda pattern.

"Don't worry, I've got lots of dresses I'll find one" I said in a cheerful tone.

"How about you wear one of mine?" Rangiku said with a wild look in her eyes. My eyes widened, and I glanced at what Rangiku was wearing at the moment. She was wearing a black dress that dipped down to her belly button in the front. A tiny strap held the two sides of the dress from falling apart. Rangiku was gorgeous and confident; she could wear a sexy outfit like that.

"Ok I think I know what you're thinking. But don't worry. Nothing too wild, you're still a kitten and I have the perfect dress for you!" she said clapping her hands together. She pulled out a short black lacy dress from her closet. It was beautiful; the flowery lace pattern covered the sleeves and the torso. It flowed down to a mesh skirt almost up to my knee.

"Can I really borrow this? Is it really ok?" I ask Rangiku holding the dress as delicately as if it was a newborn infant.

"You can have it if you want, really. It's a bit too tame for me" she said with a grin.

"Thank you so much! Rangiku-chan!" I said hugging her tightly. She squeezed my shoulders and smiled again.

"Hurry up and get dressed I have to do your makeup" she said.

After I pulled on the dress carefully, I was glad to see it fit perfectly. A few days ago, Rangiku had sized me up. She was so happy when she found out we were almost the same size, she immediately started wearing my t-shirts, I didn't mind though.

"It looks so stunning on you!" Rangiku said with tears in her eyes. I looked at my reflection and I almost blushed, I looked awesome. I don't know why but my next thought was, what would Ichigo think about it.

"Ok come over here, let me do something about your makeup" Rangiku said. She sat me down on her bed and pulled out some sort of brush.

"You have such beautiful skin, there isn't even much for me to do" she said with a smile.

"Did you ever do this kind of stuff with your sisters?" Rangiku asked as she worked on my eyelashes.

"Uhmm no, I only had a brother" I answer her, Rangiku paused and looked at me.

"What about your mom?" She asks again.

"I uh never knew any of my parents" I answer looking down at my lap.

It's not sadness I feel as the words leave my mouth, I never knew my parents so not having them didn't hurt. My older brother died 7 years ago and the wounds have healed. The only feeling is a recurring loneliness at the absence of an actual family, if I thought about it too much it would sometimes swallow me into a state of depression. Rangiku still hasn't said anything but a single teardrop threatens to fall from her eyes.

"I prefer to look at the positive things that are in my life." I say with a smile. Rangiku sighs and pats my head.

"You turned out just fine though" she says with a smile.

"What about your family, Rangiku-chan?" I ask her.

"Gin is my family" she said shrugging. I wonder what she means by that but I don't ask her.

"Here! Let me make your hair fabulous!" she said in a cheerful tone to clear the heaviness of the moment between us.

When she's done with my hair, we both go outside where Renji is waiting by the car.

"Seriously Rangiku, I'm tired of driving you around!" Renji complained but Rangiku rolled her eyes and got in.

"Woah Orihime! You look fucking amazing!" Renji says and I blush I've never gotten a compliment like that before, makes me wonder if Ichigo will react the same way when he sees me.

"Gross. She doesn't want to hear that from you" Rangiku says making room for me in the car. Renji rolls his eyes and mumbles something rude. He still drives us to the party though.

"This time I'm going to get you drunk for sure!" Rangiku says as we make our way into the party, the loud music filling my ears.

"That doesn't sound creepy at all" Renji says sarcastically pushing past us.

"Anyways, ignore the red haired ape, I've figured out how to help you!" Rangiku said shaking my shoulders. Although I want to ask her why she's so intent on getting me drunk I still nod and listen to her.

"You're focusing too much on the taste! If I find you something sweet you won't even notice as you chug down the drinks!" Rangiku laughs loudly pulling me into the kitchen. There's a spread of drinks on the counter and Gin is standing there holding a cup. He smiles and drapes his arm over Rangiku's shoulder as we reach the counter.

"Here, I'll be the bartender" Rangiku says shaking one of the bottles before pouring the liquid into a red cup. She mixes drinks from three different bottles expertly and then hands me the cup.

"Woah, that was so cool. You're like a mad scientist…but for alcohol" I murmur looking down into the cups contents.

"What do you think?" Rangiku asks excitedly. I take a sip and I'm pleasantly surprised by the taste, it's just like soda.

"It's so sweet! It's really good!" I take another sip and Rangiku laughs loudly.

"See! You just needed the right combo! I'll call it CherryHime vodka!" She says pouring a drink for herself. "Hold on I'll be right back, I think I just saw Soifon" Rangiku leaves me standing by the table with Gin and I wonder what to say.

"So… this drink is really nice…. Want some?" I ask him holding out the cup to him.

"It's just Cherry coke mixed with Vodka and beer. She's made it for everyone." Gin says.

"It's been called CherryGin vodka, CherryIchigo vodka and many others"

"Oh. That's nice of her" I say sipping my drink. Gin makes me uncomfortable somehow, when he wasn't around Rangiku it was almost impossible to tell what he was thinking. His closed eyed grin felt… sinister when it wasn't directed at Rangiku.

"You're not really Rangiku's friend if you don't drink with her, that's probably why she's so excited to get you drinking" He takes a swig from his cup and leaves the kitchen. As I finish my drink Rangiku comes back into the kitchen.

"Oh, where's Gin?" She asks refilling her cup.

"He left. Uhmm Rangiku-chan? Is it ok if I ask you something?"

"Sure! You can ask me anything" She says mixing me another cup of CherryHime Vodka.

"I know you said the two of you aren't a couple. But Do you think maybe, Gin likes you? And do you like him?" I watch Rangiku's face for her reaction.

"I don't know" she says shrugging.

"You don't know if he likes you? Or you don't know if you like him?" I ask taking the cup she handed me.

"I just don't know. Let's just have fun!" she says laughing and pulling me out of the kitchen into the crowded room that served as a dance floor.

Somehow Rangiku was an expert at dancing just as she was with all things related to drinking. She twirled, jumped and spun without spilling a drop from her cup. I laughed and tried to keep up with her but my dancing was embarrassing. With Rangiku it didn't matter though, we were giggling loudly as we danced. I spun around and bumped into Renji and my drink poured all over me.

"Oops sorry about that" he says, I can tell he's even more drunk than I am.

"It's ok, I'll just wipe it off with some water" I move towards the kitchen, apologizing to the people I bump into. The alcohol has given me a giddy feeling. When I enter the kitchen I see Ichigo standing by the sink.

"Ichigo!" I call out to him waving with both hands. He looks at me with wide eyes as I walk towards him.

"What are you doing here?" he asks clearing his throat and straightening up. His eyes roam over me slowly and he looks away as I step closer.

"This is the kitchen right? I'm allowed to be in here" Maybe my confidence came from the alcohol because I stand right in front of him so close our chests are almost touching. Ichigo blinks at me and covers my face with his hand, pushing me away.

"What are you doing?" he says clearing his throat again, I laugh when I see a slight red tint on his cheeks.

"I need to use the sink" I point behind him. He scoffs and stands aside with his arms crossed over his chest.

Ichigo doesn't say anything while I wipe off the front of my dress. He starts walking towards the door when he bumps into someone.

"Oh I'm so sorry" the girl he bumped into says. Instead of stepping away like a normal person would though she wraps her arms around Ichigo's shoulders.

"Oh my what to do? I bumped into the infamous bad boy, Kurosaki Ichigo. What are you going to do to me?" she says in a flirty voice, she presses her chest tightly onto Ichigo and looks up at him batting her eyelashes. I find myself rolling my eyes in annoyance although the situation had nothing to do with me, it still bothered me.

Ichigo pulls her arms off his shoulders and moves towards the door again. But the purple haired girl stands in his way again.

"Are you just going to leave like this?" she says caressing his arm. My annoyance grew, I was about to walk up to her and say something sassy or mean. I just have to think of something mean to say which might take a while. Before I could think of something to say a guy with brown hair wearing a shirt that said '99 problems and yo' bitch ain't one' comes into the kitchen.

"Mai-chan? What the hell is going on here?" he asks angrily looking at Ichigo.

"Absolutely nothing" Ichigo says moving towards the door again.

"Wait a minute you asshole, you think you can hit on my girl and just leave like that?" he pushes Ichigo's chest. Ichigo glares at him with just as much anger and annoyance.

"Get out of my way!" he pushes the guy and moves to leave again. A yank pulls Ichigo back and the brown haired guy punches Ichigo's face, I scream as Ichigo falls back onto the kitchen counter, knocking a few of the bottles there and breaking some of them. Ichigo growls loudly in frustration and punches the guy back, he falls onto the floor and Ichigo glares down at him. There's a crowd gathering around the door now. They're all looking at Ichigo, some with fear, many with contempt. Ichigo lifts his head and pushes past everyone blocking his way.

"What happened?" someone asks.

"Kurosaki being an asshole again"

"Seriously what the fuck is wrong with that guy"

The murmurs reach my ears and I move towards the door to follow Ichigo. I pause and look back at the purple haired girl.

"Don't you think hitting on someone else when you have a boyfriend is a bit…" I rack my brains for the right word, a mean word. "-pathetic?" I want to high five myself when I see her mouth open in outrage. I felt so cool, I imagine an explosion behind me while I walk away wearing sunglasses. I shake my head and move to look for Ichigo again.

I have to push through people but I catch a glimpse of Ichigo, he disappears through a door down the hallway and I follow him in. It's a small bathroom. He's standing by the sink with the tap running. He turns to look at me as I walk inside.

"Are you going to tell me I shouldn't have hit him?" he asks, he sounds tired.

"No. That wasn't your fault" I say quietly moving closer to him. He sighs and closes his eyes.

"Everyone out there thinks it is though"

"They don't know anything, they shouldn't just assume you started it, they didn't see what happened"

Ichigo doesn't answer and I feel my chest clenching painfully, he doesn't even look angry, it's like he's used to people blaming him for stuff like this.

"It's not fair." I mumble, he just shrugs and gives me a small smile.

"We should go out there and tell them"

"Tell them what?" he asks looking at me quietly.

"That you didn't do anything! and that that purple girl started it and her boyfriend threw the first punch and that-" my babbling died in my throat when he gently stroked my cheek with his hand. His smiled at me warmly and his eyes swept over my face.

"It's OK though. You know what happened. I don't care what others think" he said gently. My heart hammered against my chest at the warmth in his eyes. As he moved his hand away my eyes found the blood dripping from his hand.

"You're bleeding!" I gasp as I cradle his hand in mine. He must have cut his hand on one of the broken bottles back in the kitchen.

"There's so much blood!"

"It's not a big deal I'll just rinse it off" He pulls his hand out of mine and places it under the running water.

"Don't do that! There might still be glass in it" I pull his hand again examining it closer. Just like I'd guessed there was a large shard of glass embedded into the crook of his thumb.

"It's fine, I'll just-" he starts saying but I cut him off.

"This might hurt a little but Ok. I'm going to pull it out and see if there are other pieces" I try to pull it out gently but Ichigo only flinched a little. I opened the small cabinet and found a small bottle of rubbing alcohol. Ichigo watches me quietly as I tend to his cut. He doesn't say anything which I find even more distracting than if he actually did say something.

"Ok, almost done, I just have to put on a band aid. I always carry some around" I say opening my small bag and pulling out my pack of band aids.

"Why do you always carry them around?" he asks.

"You never know when you could randomly get hurt, Ichigo." I say shrugging, he chuckles and I take his hand again.

"Which color do you want?"

"Does it matter?"

"Oh well, ok then" I pull out a pink one and just as I'm about to peel it Ichigo stops me.

"Well not that one" he says making a face. I laugh and then pull out a green one instead but Ichigo shakes his head again.

"How about a blue one?" I ask but he frowns shaking his head. He can be so cute sometimes.

"Do you have a red one?" Ichigo asks after a pause. I smile as I put on the red one. After I've firmly stuck it on, I kiss his open palm before I could stop myself. He gives me a puzzled look and I blush.

"That's just, so that it heals faster" I say looking down at my feet.

Ichigo lifts my head up with one finger and his eyes met mine. I felt my heart beat stop as his thumb ran across my bottom lip. His gaze had me spellbound, I didn't even know how to react but I knew that I wanted to kiss him right now before this feeling faded. As if answering my inner desires Ichigo lowered his head and captured my lips with his.

My mind hadn't caught up with what was happening but my lips responded to his almost immediately. His warm lips melded over mine slowly at first, he slid his fingers into my hair as his other hand gripped my hip pulling me closer. His tongue lightly brushed my bottom lip and I felt heat pool up deep inside me. Ichigo pushed farther; with one step he had pressed my back to the cool bathroom wall. His tongue pushed past the seam of my lips and I couldn't help the moan that slipped out of my mouth. I couldn't believe what was going on, every touch of his lips felt more and more like a dream you never want to wake up from. His hands felt so good it almost hurt. I'm tugging at his hair and pulling him closer but I don't even want to stop myself.

The door opened and like a bubble popping, the heat between us disappeared with a pop. I felt cold as Ichigo pulled his hands away from me quickly. We both looked at Rukia standing by the door; I blush as she looks at both of us in shock. Ichigo clears his throat and steps away, pushing past Rukia as he walks out of the bathroom. Rukia stands by the door for a second longer, I'm too embarrassed to speak and Rukia leaves after an awkward silence.

I cover my face in embarrassment as I look at my reflection in the mirror. There's a very flushed look on my cheeks that doesn't leave even after I wash my face. After a few minutes I leave the bathroom. I don't see Ichigo and somehow that's a relief. I have no idea what I'd say to him if I saw him now.

"Orihime! Where did you go?" Rangiku calls out to me. She is curled up on the couch cradling a bottle of alcohol next to Gin.

"I uh- went to the bathroom" I say which is true. I hope she doesn't ask what I did in there and if she does I'll say I was pooping.

"Sit here! I'll make you a CherryHime Vodka" she made space for me on the couch and I sat down. I wanted to distract myself from thoughts of Ichigo, so I gulped down the drink Rangiku handed me without pausing.

"Woo! You really like it don't you? I'll make some more!" Rangiku said excitedly.

"Or you could have some CherryRenji vodka if you want" Renji said and I laughed. Rangiku glared at him and threw an empty cup at him.

"Fine, then I'll make you something else, I called it CherryHime vodka supreme explosion"

"That's a really long name" I point out.

"Well you can call it CHVSE for short" she said smiling. I leant close to Gin and whispered.

"Has she made this before for you?" He nodded and I laughed again.

"Here it is. You have to drink it all at once really fast ok? Don't pause just go" her eyes looked wild and I wondered if I should be afraid. I still took the cup she handed me and pressed it to my lips.

"Yes, Drink my dear, drink, drink, yes" She said in a croaky voice.

"You sound like an evil witch, Rangiku" Gin said. I tilted my head back and began drinking. It was bitter and it burned as it went down. When I'd emptied the cup everyone clapped. I immediately felt dizzy and lightheaded and I was giggling non-stop.

"CherryHime Vodka supreme explosion is like poof! Pow!" I said slurring my words. Rangiku laughed loudly and nodded. Whether it was because of the alcohol or not, I suddenly wanted to find Ichigo.

"Where are you going?" Rangiku asks as I stand up.

"Looking for the bathroom" I say.

I stumble through the crowd and tripped a few times as I passed people. I was walking around in circles, giggling as I bumped into people. It's like bumper cars except its bumper people. I giggled to myself and walked down the hallway.

There's an open back door, I catch a glimpse of Ichigo's bright hair and I walk towards the door. I don't notice he's talking to someone until I hear his voice.

"It wasn't a fight really, it's not a big deal" he says. The next voice I hear is Rukia's.

"Yeah well, you caused a scene in front of lots of people again. If people start talking again-"

"I'll handle it. This really wasn't a big deal, Rukia. Don't worry about it and…Don't tell your brother" Ichigo says. From where I'm standing I can see him but I don't see Rukia until her hand pats his arm.

"I wasn't going to idiot. I just… meant-"

"Yeah I know what you meant" he said with a small smile.

"So… are we going to talk about what you were doing in the bathroom with Orihime?" Rukia says and I hold my breath. I shouldn't be listening to this I think to myself. But I stand there to listen to what Ichigo will say dspite the warning signals telling me, 'retreat immediately'.

"Oh that—I just…lost myself for a little bit. It was nothing" he said clearing his throat.

In the silence that followed my chest felt heavy. I tried swallowing the embarrassment that I felt running through me. I don't even know why it hurt so much, that was the answer I expected but it's not the one I wanted.


	7. Chapter 7: Spongebob induced cuddles

**AN: A thousand apologies for the late update, it's the usual exams and life excuse. I'm super sorry. Anywhoo on with the chapter!**

 **Chapter 7 : Spongebob induced cuddles**

I willed my feet to move away from the door before I have to explain to Ichigo and Rukia what I'm doing eavesdropping. As I turn around I run into a wall of muscle. I look up to see Grimmjow. He looks down at me with an annoyed scowl and then he looks over my head where Ichigo and Rukia are still talking. He looks at my face again and he must have read the situation because he chuckles under his breath. My cheeks flare up and I try to step to the side away from him but he stands in my way again.

"Oh? What do we have here?" he taunts with a wide smirk on his face "snooping around? Why I wonder? " his smile grows when he sees me blushing.

"I-I wasn't listening- I just…" the words trail out of my mouth and Grimmjow laughs loudly.

"Wait, wait don't tell me-" He leaned down and whispered in my ear. "You like _Ichigo_?" My eyes widen and before I could protest and deny the very idea I hear Ichigo's voice behind me.

"Orihime?" he says, I turn and see him frowning at Grimmjow by the door. Although Grimmjow was slightly taller Ichigo was intimidating enough to stare him down. Trapped between the two having a glaring contest was the most nerve wracking thing I could ever think of. Grimmjow's glare was paired with a wide toothed grin, Ichigo's eyes darkened as he stared down Grimmjow. I tried stepping away again but Grimmjow easily blocked my way again.

"So Ichigo. I just heard the funniest thing! Right Orihime?" he said his grin growing wider. My heart chilled, he's not going to tell him _that_?

"What?" Ichigo said for some reason there was anger in his voice and he stepped closer. The air between the two was suffocating.

"Well Orihime-" Grimmjow was saying but I suddenly started coughing loudly, wheezing and banging on my chest dramatically. Grimmjow laughed rolling his eyes and Ichigo looked at me in concern.

"Are you Ok, Orihime?" Rukia said appearing next to me. The fake coughs ceased immediately and I laughed nervously instead. For some reason I couldn't look her in the eye.

"Yeah, I just- I'm going to get some water" I said looking down at my feet as I pass by Grimmjow. I don't go into the kitchen for water instead I push past the crowds of people and step out of the front door. The cool air hits my face and I felt better. My mind feels clearer but of course it's not clear of thoughts of Ichigo. I sat down on the bottom stair and looked up at the sky as if answers to the questions swirling around my head will be written there.

Do I like him? Or did that kiss just mess with my thinking? These feelings were all so new and foreign to me I didn't know how to react to them. I knew his voice, his smile and his laughter made my heart race but maybe that's just my naïve heart replacing my brain.

I sigh and stand up, dusting myself off. Nothing is going to come over pondering about it, I try to convince myself as I safely tuck away the feelings that were starting to show themselves. I enter the party again and although I don't mean to my eyes look around for Ichigo. I sigh in relief when I don't see him and instead look for Rangiku.

"You have to hold it in longer" Rangiku says laughing. She was pouring a large bottle of tequila into a mug; she had pushed aside the small shot glasses. Ikkaku was biting into a lemon and making a face that sent me into a fit of giggles each time I looked up. After biting into the lemon for a whole minute Ikkaku gulps down the mug of tequila. He looks like he might pass out but Rangiku doesn't mind. She's laughing hysterically. Finding new ways to mix alcohol seemed to be her favorite thing to do. I didn't want to drink any of the burning liquor but I enjoyed watching Rangiku laughing and having fun.

After a while I stood up and made my way into the kitchen to find some water. I found a bottle in the fridge and as I made my way out of the kitchen I caught a glimpse of Ichigo. Without thinking about it I ducked and hid around the corner. I'm not avoiding him, I'm just not really ready to look him in the eye I say to myself. I turn to peek over the wall again but I come face to face with Ichigo. I jump and a squeak bursts from my throat.

"Orihime." He says in that tone that turns my legs to jelly, "What are you-"

"Ichigo! How-How are you?" I start babbling "I mean err- we meet again! Hehe it's a small world or I mean it's a small house- well it err" My words aren't making any sense at all and my thoughts are scattered everywhere, and for some reason my brain decided to replay every detail of the kiss. This flustered feeling isn't made any better when Ichigo takes my hand in his and pulls me aside.

"Listen Orihime. I need to talk to you" he says, his tone is serious and I know what he's going to say. I don't want to hear it though, I already heard him saying it to Rukia. I bite my lip and brace myself.

"About the uhmm the kiss earlier-"

"It's ok. Don't worry about it" I interrupt him waving my hands around.

"Really?" he asks.

"Yeah I mean- it was nothing let's uhmm not bring it up again" the words taste horrible on my tongue but I smile. This situation couldn't hurt anymore but then Ichigo sighed in relief.

"Great. I-uhh I thought I'd messed things up and that I'd hurt you" he said smiling in relief.

"Haha No way it was just- I mean it wasn't a big deal" I smile shakily, the smile feels stretched and painful. I hope he doesn't notice that my hands are trembling. I start walking away but he pulls me back, I avoid his eyes but he lifts my chin up so that I have nowhere to look besides his burning brown eyes flecked with bits of gold.

"Are you sure you're OK?" he asks. I pause before answering because I don't know what I want to say. I don't know why his earlier dismissal of the kiss hurt me; I don't know why everything he does sends every part of me into overdrive. I've either finally gone completely insane or I've fallen for him. I prefer the insane option.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be? I'm absolutely fine" I say a little too cheerfully and slap his arm lightly. Ichigo scowls and his eyes bore into mine.

"Well I mean I'll understand if you're a little-" his words fade away as he narrows his eyes at me.

"Nope! I am 100% OK. It was nothing, I mean, we just got caught up in the moment" I shrug and laugh waving my hands in the air between us. I nod to myself. _Good, good, nicely handled, Orihime. Don't make a mess out of things with your feelings_ , I encourage myself.

"Well then I have to get back to-" My words are lost as Ichigo pushes me against the wall. He stares at me intensely with an annoyed look on his face. He places both his hands on either side of the wall caging me with his arms.

"Ichigo?" I ask quietly. I don't know what to think but my legs feel like jelly as he brings his face closer to mine.

"So you're OK? Just OK?" he asks again irritated this time. I frown in confusion. What does he want me to say?

"y-yeah" I stammer out. Impossibly this answer seems to infuriate him further. He glares at me in the most adorable fashion and then leaves me standing in the kitchen without saying a word.

 _What was that?_

When I walk back to the living room, I don't see Rangiku or Gin. Renji is on the couch next to Rukia and she looks up when I come in.

"Orihime!" she calls out smiling at me, I smile back nervously but she doesn't seem bothered.

"Rangiku is upstairs, she said you should come up and crash here tonight" Rukia says.

"Good luck with that" Renji snorts stretching his legs out on the couch. Rukia slaps his legs off her lap and glares at him. I smile at her and make my way up the stairs. This night has been long and exhausting and I'm ready to retire from this party, almost everyone around seems to be stumbling towards their rooms or some just decided to pass out on any random spot on the floor. I sigh as I look around, I didn't ask what room it was. I open the first room in the hallway hoping to find a bed and Rangiku but it's a small closet and there's a guy asleep on a pile of coats. I close the door as he snores and try opening another door. The one I try is locked and I move to the next one. If it's not this one then I'll go ask Rukia, I think to myself as I grip the door handle. Before I can push the door, it opens and someone steps out.

"Oh? Do you want to come in?" the guy that stood in the doorway slurred. He smiled as he looks me up and down.

"No sorry I was looking for uhmm someone" I said stepping away but he grabbed my wrist.

"Aww come on. Don't go beautiful. Stay. We can have fun" he says pulling me towards him. I try to pull my arm away from him but he has a firm grip on my wrist.

"N-no thank you" I say fighting to stay calm but he's pulling me into the room despite my protests. I'm about to bite his hand or something to escape but someone shoves him off me.

"Get off her" I hear Ichigo growl he pulls me gently behind him and glares at the guy. The guy stumbles back grinning and holds his hands up in surrender.

"Whatever man" he says stepping into his room and closing the door. Ichigo leads me into his room down the hallway with his hand over my shoulder. He closes the door when we're inside and he turns on the lights.

"Are you hurt?" he asks his eyes scanning my face. He reaches out and examines my wrist.

"Yeah. I'm fine really" I say smiling as he squints at my wrists to see any sign of an injury.

"What were you doing trying to go into his room?" he asks after ensuring I wasn't hurt.

"I was looking for Rangiku's room. She said I can sleep with her tonight" I say Ichigo raises his eyebrows at that.

"Oh? Well it's the third door on the right. Good luck" he says, there is a bit of sarcasm in his tone but I just open the door and follow his directions. When I open the room I find Rangiku curled on a bed, I almost sigh in relief till I see Gin with his arms wrapped around her. At first I thought he was asleep but he turned towards me with a sly grin that makes me jump. His closed eyed grin was silently telling me to get out, I smile nervously and close the door quietly.

I take a deep breath outside the door and jump again when Ichigo whispers in my ear. "How did that work out?"

"I-uh well she's with Gin and he-"

"Gin probably wants to be alone with her huh?" Ichigo asks with mock surprise smirking at me. I'm sure Renji also knew that Gin didn't like being interrupted when he was alone with Rangiku.

"So what are you going to do?" Ichigo asks, I sigh and shrug. "You could stay with me tonight" He offers and my eyes widen.

"What?"

"I mean since you don't have a place to sleep. I'm fine with you using my bed" Ichigo says scratching the back of his neck. When I don't answer he glances at me and I smile.

"Thank you. That would be nice" I say leading the way back towards his room. I notice Ichigo's lips twitch as he walks next to me. When we're in his room again I kick off my shoes and sit on the edge of the bed. Ichigo sits on the chair beside the bed and crosses his arms.

"Aren't you going to sleep too?" I ask and he smirks.

"Are you trying to get me in bed?" He laughs when he sees the blush on my cheeks. I stretch out on the bed, the exhaustion of the long night creeping up on me. My eyes feel heavy but I fight to stay awake, I look around Ichigo's room, without noticing he was looking at me.

"Ichigo?" I mumble.

"Hmm?"

"Did you know that an octopus has three hearts?" my eyes feel heavier and I don't even know what I'm saying. I hear Ichigo chuckle next to me and I blink at him. He tucks me under the blanket.

"Is your head filled with rainbows and butterflies?" he says sitting next to me.

"Butterflies, fire breathing robots and high tech dragons. It's a blast" I murmur as my eyes close. I think Ichigo lies next to me but I'm already deep under.

I wake up sometime in the night to the sounds of Ichigo's heavy breathing. I sit up and turn to him sleeping fretfully beside me. A sheen of sweat on his forehead and a deep scowl settle on his face. I reach out to wake him up from the nightmare that's got a hold of him. As my hand touches his forehead he flinches and jerks awake panting.

"Ichigo? Are you OK?" I ask him softly. He looks at me confused for a few seconds his chest still rising and falling rapidly. I reach out for him without thinking twice. I hug him tightly to my chest my fingers in his hair, I don't know if my hug can chase away whatever nightmare was haunting him but I poured everything I could into that hug. I don't ask him what his nightmare is about although I want to, I just hold him tightly till his breathing is normal again. When I let him go I see his scowl is in place except he's staring at the opposite wall with a lifeless look in his eyes I haven't seen before; a look I didn't like. He doesn't say anything but I feel compelled to cheer him up somehow.

"Do you want me to get you something to drink?"

"No" he says in a low tone without looking at me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I try again.

"No" he says again.

"Do you want to sing a song?"

"No-wait what?" he said confused finally looking at me. I smiled and pushed him back to lie on the bed.

"When you have a bad dream my brother used to tell me to sing a song or maybe I could sing one for you?" His lips twitched slightly and he pulled me to lie next to him. I wanted to make him smile somehow so I picked the silliest song I could think of.

"Whooooo lives in a pineapple under the sea? Spongebob-" I stopped when he burst into laughter next to me. His whole body shaking as his arms circled around my waist pulling me closer. I felt his laughter echo in my heart as if it was mine.

"See? It worked you're smiling again"

"Well thank you for that emotional performance" Ichigo says with a wide grin.

When he stopped laughing, he looks down at me with a small smile on his lips; his eyes are warm just like every part of him. His thumb lightly strokes my cheek and brush over my lips. His eyes that were fixated on my lips look into mine and I don't know if he can see how much I want him to kiss me because he kisses my forehead and then my cheek. I hold my breath when it seems he was going to kiss me on the lips, as his lips hover over mine, he whispers.

"Let's go to sleep, Hime"

He didn't let me go and I didn't want him to we fell asleep like that tangled around each other.

My eyes open slowly and I blink in confusion for a few seconds. I'm not in my own bed and I'm surrounded by a masculine scent that certainly isn't mine. I turn my head to the side and I'm facing Ichigo. He's still asleep and my eyes widen as yesterday flashes through my mind. I tear my eyes away from his sleeping face and try to move away but Ichigo's arm tightens around my waist. I bite my lip and nervously brush my fingers on his cheek just like he did to me last night. He sniffs in his sleep but doesn't wake up. My eyes are free to roam over his face and every minute detail I find makes my chest tighten even more. I don't know what this feeling is but I know there's a lot of it. Any chance I had of staying away from him was pushed off a cliff last night.

When Ichigo stretches and his eyes begin to open, I quickly shut mine. I do not want to be caught oogling him in his sleep. I try to calm my breathing pretending I'm asleep and I wonder if it's safe to open my eyes yet. I almost flinch when I feel Ichigo gently run his fingers through my hair. He twirls one of the strands and my eyes open to find him staring at me. For about 5 seconds we stare at each other, neither of us breathing and at exactly same time we both jump apart.

"Good morning!" I say laughing nervously.

"Y-yeah" I stands up and runs his fingers through his messy sleep hair. I can't help giggling at his hair.

"What?"

"Your hair, it's so messy!" I say pointing. Ichigo laughs too and rolls his eyes.

"You should see yours, it looks like a bird's nest"

The laughter successfully pushes aside the awkwardness between us and I stand up stretching my arms above my head.

"Can I use a bathroom?" Although there isn't much I can do to freshen up, I'd feel better if I could at least wash my face.

"Here? No" Ichigo says and I frown in confusion.

"I mean it's the morning after a party, you don't know the horrors you might walk into. Last week there was a guy asleep in his own puke in a bathtub. I can't let a lady see that shit" Ichigo says and I hide the smile on my face at his thoughtfulness.

"I could drive you back to your dorm. If you want" he offers, my chest leaps and I nod a bit too enthusiastically.

He leads the way and I follow closely behind him. Downstairs looks like the remains of a zombie apocalypse. There are lots of people passed out on the floor and some that were awake were shuffling about looking confused. Ichigo turned a corner and opened a door. Inside Renji was asleep in bed. Ichigo slapped his back to wake him and Renji groaned curses under his breath.

"What do you want?" he moaned rolling over to glare at Ichigo.

"Keys" Ichigo said unfazed by the daggers Renji was sending him.

"They're on the table there." He says burying his head under his pillow. Ichigo grabs the keys and grins at me as he walks out of the room.

"Let's go"

When we're in the car I try not to stare at how attractive Ichigo looks driving. I wondered how he made something as normal as driving look attractive. He gripped the steering wheel with one hand and the seatbelt strap held his shirt tightly to his chest so that his muscles were on display.

"Orihime?" his voice snaps me out of my inappropriate thoughts,

"huh?" I hope he didn't notice me staring.

"Last night, you mentioned your brother do you have any other siblings?" he asked it as a harmless question and I tried to smile like it was a harmless question.

"No. My brother was the only family I had" His eyebrow raises at the past tense and he grips the wheel tighter looking away from the road to look at me.

"I-I'm sorry" he says and I nod looking down at my lap.

"Are you okay?" he asks with concern on his face I smile again.

"What about you? Do you have any siblings?" he gives me another concerned look before he answers my question.

"Yeah two younger twin sisters" I notice his eyes soften as he mentions them.

"That's so cute! You're the perfect big brother type" I say laughing and Ichigo chuckles. I want to know more about him and I hope the drive doesn't end but a far too soon Ichigo pulls up in front of the dorm. When I step outside I fidget unnecessarily to stall the moment I have to say goodbye. I don't even know if I'll see him in class next week.

"Orihime" he says leaning against the car behind him. "I-I uhh wanted to say thank you for- for last night" He clears his throat and looks at me.

"I'll see you in class next week" he says and my heart involuntarily pounds against my ribs.

It's not fair, how am I expected not to fall in love with him when everything he says and does pulls me in deeper, I think to myself as I wave at him and walk into the dorm.

 **AN: Thank you guys for your reviews, i love each one of you. I sit down for hours contemplating if i should reply to them or does that make me look desperate? I don't know should I? tell me :D The next chapter will be up sooner. Promise.**


	8. Chapter 8: Piggyback ride

**AN: I know i said the next update would be soon but it turns out i failed my exam and had to take a re-test (never said i was smart) Hopefully this chapter appeases you guys! :D**

Chapter 8 : Piggyback ride

I pick up my comb and twirl around in my towel. I take a deep breath and start singing a Taylor swift song at the top of my lungs as I detangle my damp hair. It's been an hour since Ichigo dropped me off and I'm strutting around my room in my towel after taking a shower instead of dressing up like a normal person would.

" _\- And to the fella over there with the hella good hair, won't you come on over baby, we can shake shake, shake. And the haters gonna hate, hat-_ " my voice shrivels in my throat as I hear someone's laughter behind me. I turn around slowly and see Rangiku, Renji, Grimmjow and even Rukia standing at the door. There's silence for about two seconds until everyone bursts into laughter. My options are to run out of the room to hide my embarrassment but Renji and Rangiku are on the floor laughing with tears in their eyes, I could jump out of the window I think to myself but instead I jump on my bed and roll myself into a ball with my blanket.

"Ok sorry Orihime, we'll stop laughing" Rangiku says while laughing. The blush on my cheeks must be tomato red but I clear my throat and try to look as dignified as you can look wrapped up in a blanket with wet hair.

"I was just uhmm- that was well, I got bored so…" I mumble and tighten my blanket around myself.

Renji doesn't stop laughing till Rukia hits him on the head. "Well I think it's cute, also I like that song" Rukia says with a smile. I laugh nervously, I appreciate her trying to make me feel better.

Grimmjow chuckles and sits down on the bed next to me. I tighten up my blanket like a shield but Grimmjow is scrolling through his phone completely unconcerned by my discomfort.

"I'm starving" Rangiku says taking off her heels and putting on a more comfortable pair of shoes. "We were about to go out for food, do you want to come or do you want to keep dancing?" Rangiku asks with a smile as Renji leaves with Rukia.

"What? Uhmm No, thank you" I smile and Rangiku leaves. I sit down quietly and after ten awkward seconds I turn to Grimmjow who's still sitting down next to me.

"Aren't you- well don't you have to leave?" I ask slightly uncomfortable. Grimmjow looks up from his phone and looks around the empty room. He stands up and I relax but instead of leaving he stands over me with a wide smirk on his face.

"What do you think? It came out perfectly didn't it?" he holds his phone out to show me the picture on the screen. I groan and close my eyes, of course it's a picture of me, striking a ridiculous pose, in my towel. When did he even take that? Grimmjow laughs at the blush on my face and I frown.

"Haha- that's-that's not very funny. Uhh would you please delete that?" I ask with a strained smile on my face.

"Delete it? I was going to show it to Ichigo- I'm sure he'd love to see-"

"No!" I reach out and try to snatch the phone but Grimmjow laughs loudly and starts walking away. I jump out of my bed and try to pull him back.

"Wait- don't!" He holds the phone out of my reach and his laughter rings around the room. I give up trying to take the phone from him and cross my arms over my chest.

"What do you want Grimmjow?" I sigh and take a step back from him.

"Aww don't give up so fast, watching you jump in that towel was fun" he says and I blush realizing I'm just in my towel, alone in a room with him.

"Why are you-"

"because, I've finally found a way to piss Ichigo off" he says with a sinister smile growing on his lips.

"What are you talking about?" I ask but he chuckles and presses a few buttons on his phone.

"To be fair, Orihime i did warn you before to stay away from Ichigo, don't blame anyone when shit starts going down" Grimmjow says his face turning serious.

"I don't understand what you're trying to say. Ichigo isn't-" He holds his hand up and rolls his eyes as he shakes his head. He presses a few buttons on his phone and then shows me the screen.

"There, deleted, Happy?" he says before leaving through the door.

I pull on a simple flowery dress and turn around to leave. The next time I plan to have a dance off in my towel I should ensure the door is locked I think to myself. Bending to put on my shoes I reach for the door knob but at that moment someone pushes the door open. The brass door handle hits me on the forehead and I stumble back holding my aching forehead.

"Ouch!"

"Shit, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" I hear Ichigo's voice and sit up. He kneels down on the floor next to me and holds my face in his hands. He brushes my hair out of my face with his long fingers and my breath is knocked out of me.

"Are you okay?" he repeats I barely remember how to talk but I manage a dazed nod.

"How many fingers am I holding up? Are you dizzy? Fuck I think it's going to leave a bruise. I'm so sorry-" I can't help giggling at how cute his worried rambling is.

"I'm fine, Ichigo" I smile up at him but he frowns clearly unconvinced. He takes a closer look at my forehead and I try not to show how much I'm freaking out internally. In the next second Ichigo pressed his lips onto my forehead and my heart melted into a puddle. I look up into his eyes to try and discern what he's thinking, is his heart going haywire like mine is?

"So it'll heal faster" He says and his lips curl into a small smile. He helps me up and I try to straighten myself up.

"You should put some ice on that" he says and I smile.

"Then can we go for ice cream?" I say excitedly.

"I meant ice for your forehead not ice cream" he says holding the door open for me.

"They have the same effect" I say in a matter of fact voice, Ichigo laughs and walks beside me out of the room.

"Really?"

"Mmhhm, it's a scientifically proven fact" Ichigo laughs again and I laugh with him.

"Well then ice cream it is"

We walk out of the dorm areas next to each other. Ichigo keeps stopping every few minutes to check on my forehead mumbling an apology. I laugh and brush him off each time. Ichigo seems to have a strong protective side despite how others think he's a delinquent that just gets into fights all the time, I think he is sweet. A sweet delinquent, I think to myself as Ichigo turns to look back at me.

"You walk so slow Orihime" he complains.

"Actually you walk too fast Ichigo" I say mocking his tone and jogging to catch up to him.

"Here" he holds his hand out and I take it with a blush on my cheeks. Walking hand in hand this way, we probably look like a couple.

We reach a small ice cream stand tended to by a man with a thick moustache.

"What would you two have?" the man asks with a smile. He proudly gestures at the flavors he has on display.

"One chocolate please" Ichigo says and turns to me. I frown at the selection of flavors, they seem normal and boring.

"Is that wasabi flavor?" I point at the green one. The man gives me an incredulous look and looks at Ichigo for an explanation but he just shrugs.

"Uhmm no that's mint chocolate chip" he says laughing nervously, I pout and look for a more interesting flavor.

"You wouldn't possibly have red bean paste ice cream would you?" I ask hopefully. Ichigo bursts into laughter beside me and the ice cream man starts sweating uncomfortably.

"Errr- sorry but no?" he says and I sigh. I point at the strawberry flavor instead and he hurriedly scoops our ice cream before I mention another weird flavor. After Ichigo pays and we're walking away from the stand Ichigo chuckles.

"Red bean paste ice cream? Is there such a thing?" he asks with an eyebrow raised,

"Well I made it once, it's quite easy!" I start explaining excitedly, as I wave my hands my ice cream drops to the floor at my feet. I stare down at it with a pout. The three seconds rule doesn't work here does it? I think to myself staring at my ice cream longingly.

"Just wait here, I'll go back and get you another one" Ichigo says and my face lights up, the sorrow from my fallen strawberry ice cream instantly gone as I beam up at him. Ichigo laughs and shakes his head walking back in the direction of the ice cream stand. I wait for him and look around. Even though this isn't a date, it's still amazing to spend time with Ichigo. I'm smiling down at my feet so I don't notice when someone walks up to me. I look up with a wide smile expecting Ichigo but I come face to- chest with a very tall and very muscular man.

The tight white shirt he's wearing strains to hold his bulging muscles. He has a bald head and red tattoos on his face. He looks down at me the same way a person would an ant in their path. I instinctively move away from him and he leers down at me.

"Look what I bumped into, a little doll" he says to no one in particular.

"I'm sorry I wasn't- I mean I didn't mean to get in your way" I say walking away slowly, his smirk grows wider and with one huge hand he pulls me back. He was probably strong enough to yank off my entire arm if he wanted to, I tried to fight the rising panic with a shaky smile.

"Uhmm could you please uhmm let go?" I stammer out, I fight the urge to scream. Stay calm Orihime, maybe he's a nice person, its best to stay polite, I try to convince myself.

"You trying to run away? Aww but I'd like to play with you. I'm bored you see" his smile sends goesebumps up and down my spine and I start wondering if biting him would do any damage.

"She said let go you fucking oaf" Ichigo growls behind the huge stranger. He lets my hand go and slowly turns around to stare down at Ichigo. He's almost twice Ichigo's height and quite frankly he looks like he could eat up Ichigo. I feel worry well up inside me for Ichigo.

"Huh? Ichigo?" the huge stranger says and Ichigo's eyes widen.

"Yammy?" I look between the two of them. Ichigo is holding two ice cream cones looking very unintimidating next to the huge Yammy who was cracking his knuckles.

"It must be my lucky day, I bump into _the_ Kurosaki Ichigo! You know, I never thanked you for breaking my arm last time" he says taking a step closer to Ichigo. Ichigo defiantly glares back at him. I know Ichigo would get in a lot of trouble for fighting and I know this man-giant wasn't worth it.

"Ichigo! Err let's go" I say, Yammy turns around and glares at me.

"Your little boyfriend isn't going nowhere, get lost bitch-"

"You should shut your mouth before I fucking break your teeth, stupid ogre" Ichigo growls at Yammy who laughs loudly and grabs Ichigo from the collar of his black t-shirt.

"Stupid ogre? You have balls Ichigo. It seems I need to teach you some respect" Yammy snarls. The panic in my chest explodes and I think about what to do to help in this situation. Maybe I could throw something or try to somehow push him? I didn't want Ichigo to get hurt. Ichigo glances at me and shakes his head as if reading my mind.

"Orihime, you go on ahead, I'll catch up with you" Ichigo says, I frown at him. He can't possibly expect me to leave him in this situation?

"You don't want your girlfriend to see you get your ass handed to you?" Yammy laughs loudly. Ichigo looks at me again, he jerks his head to the side, silently telling me to go but I shake my head at him, he seems to accept that I'm not leaving and he closes his eyes and sighs.

"Yammy, let's talk, how've you been?" Ichigo says with a strained smile. Yammy looks confused with the sudden change in Ichigo.

"What the fu-" before he can finish his sentence Ichigo does something completely unexpected. He smashes the two ice cream cones on each of Yammy's eyes and then Ichigo pushes Yammy onto the floor.

"Run!" Ichigo yells at me. He grabs my hand and we run away from Yammy who's already wiping the ice cream from his eyes and stumbling towards us. I push my legs to run faster following Ichigo as we sprint away from Yammy yelling after us.

"GET BACK HERE!" Yammy shouts and then lets out a loud roar that didn't sound remotely human.

"STAY AWAY YOU FRICKING TROLL!" Ichigo shouts back running faster and pulling me with him. My legs are screaming at the exertion but I laugh loudly. This is so much fun.

"YEAH STAY AWAY!" I shout too and Ichigo laughs beside me. I fill up my lungs with air as we sprint through a path lined by trees swaying in the breeze. Ichigo's laughter sweeps through me and I squeeze his hand as we run, My laughter mixing with his loudly. Anyone that saw or heard us would think we're mad but I didn't care. I try glancing back to see if Yammy is still on our tails but I trip over my own feet, Ichigo quickly grabs my waist and steadies me. He holds me tightly to his chest, both of us panting heavily.

"He's gone" Ichigo says, as I move away from Ichigo my ankle throbs painfully.

"Oww I-I think I twisted my ankle when I tripped" Ichigo looks down at my ankle and before I can object he sweeps me off my feet carrying me in his arms.

"Ichigo! What are you-"

"You can't walk on that leg can you? Let me take a closer look" he says walking towards a bench on the side walk. My heart races every moment it takes for him to gently drop me on the bench, as if I wasn't flustered enough, Ichigo gets down on one knee and lifts my left leg. He cradles my ankle with both hands and I cover my face in an attempt to hide the blush on my face. Ichigo scowls as he examines my ankle.

"That's the second time today you've gotten hurt because of me" he says quietly.

"It wasn't your fault, I'm really clumsy, I could trip lying down. Stuff like this happens to me a lot" I say laughing to somehow comfort him. He doesn't answer me; his gaze is still on my leg. Slowly he moves his fingers from my ankle up to my knee and I shiver.

"I'll make sure you don't get hurt next time" he looks up at me and the intensity burning in his eyes leaves me speechless so I nod instead of trying to answer. Ichigo gently puts down my leg and stands up to sit next to me on the bench. I turn my face away to hide the redness on my cheeks, I cover my chest with my hands to somehow stifle the sound of my heart beating loudly and I hold my breath to stop myself blurting out my feelings.

"You attacked him with ice cream?" I say and Ichigo covers his face while i laugh.

"Yeah that's not one of my best moves" he chuckles.

"Yeah you could say that was quite _cold_ " I say laughing Ichigo rolls his eyes and throws his head back laughing. After that we both sit quietly a comfortable silence between us, Ichigo sighs and looks up at the sky with his eyes closed, and I look at him.

"You don't have to carry me all the way!" I say hiding my face behind Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo insisted on carrying me back to the dorms. Getting a piggy ride was more embarrassing than I thought it'd be especially when everyone around was staring at us as we passed them.

"You can't walk with that ankle Orihime, just shut up and hold onto me" he said over his shoulder.

"I am holding on" I mumble. People staring at us wasn't really what was embarrasing, it was Ichigo holding onto my thighs and my chest pressed to his back.

"Hold on tighter, you could fall" Ichigo warned in an amused tone. When I didn't move Ichigo lurched forward suddenly and I screamed.

"Stop that!" I said hitting his shoulder as Ichigo laughed. Nervously I reached forward and circled my arms around his shoulders, the side of my face pressed against his neck.

"Like this?" I feel Ichigo's shoulders stiffen as he clears his throat.

"Y-yeah, that's good" he says walking towards the dorms at a brisk pace. As we reach the yellow painted dorm buildings and Ichigo walks through the open doors I decide that Ichigo's scent is now my favorite smell in the whole world. The warmth from his neck alone left me fantasizing about touching his bare chest. While we were in the lift it struck me that we're almost there, I'll soon have to let go of him but I didn't want to. I wanted to hold him longer. That single thought is what drove me to place a kiss on the nape of his neck. I felt Ichigo freeze and I gasped as I realized what I just did. My brain tried to formulate an excuse to say but the doors of the lift opened and Ichigo walked out.

Ichigo didn't say anything as he walked down the hallway to my room. I bit my lip nervously, was he angry or did he just brush it off as nothing? I wish he'd say something but wait- I should probably say something first. He opened the door and shut it behind us, as I moved to slide down his back he tightened his grip on my thighs.

"Ichigo?" I wasn't sure why he wouldn't let me down but I certainly didn't mind.

"I told you, you can't walk on that leg" he says in a cool tone.

"Yeah but we're already in-" my next words are cut off as Ichigo turns my body around his waist so that I'm facing him. I hold his shoulders to balance myself and Ichigo's hands hold my back pressing my chest to his. He reaches my bed in two steps and drops us both onto the soft mattress.

"You should get some ice on that ankle, _actual_ ice" he says with a smirk. Ichigo is on top of me and my heart is trying to hammer its way out of my chest. My throat feels dry and I lick my lips nervously when Ichigo presses his forehead over mine. The look in his eyes doesn't give me a clue on what he's feeling, there's curiosity, confusion and something else in his eyes. I dare to run my fingers through his hair and Ichigo sighs his eyes sliding shut.

"Ichigo I-" his lips interrupt the words I'm about to say. He kisses me hard and my lips melt into his. Ichigo's hand on my thighs slide up to my waist, I tug on his hair pulling him closer. Ichigo bites my bottom lip and slides his tongue past my lips as I gasp. My dress is bunched up high above my waist and Ichigo's hands squeeze my bare thighs. He swallows the moans that slip out of me, my body is heating up beneath him. Each time his body slides over mine the heat deep inside me increases but I can't get enough of him.

When we pull our lips apart for air our chests are rising and falling rapidly, his eyes are staring at me with so much intensity I might burst into flames any second.

"Orihime I uhmm-" Ichigo starts saying with a scowl but then pauses. It's like he doesn't know what to say, I don't know what to say either but I want him to say something. He brushes his fingers through my hair and just as he opens his mouth again to say something, the door opens. There isn't even enough time to move away from Ichigo and we both stare as Rangiku stands at the doorway frozen with her mouth open. Ichigo groans as he gets off me, I immediately sit up and try to straighten up my dress.

"Oh! Oh dear. I just interrupted something big didn't I?" Rangiku says with a wide grin on her face. Ichigo runs his fingers through his hair and I sit there blushing.

"I could leave and err leave you guys to finish up" Rangiku says giggling.

"No! I mean that's- uhmm" I look to Ichigo who is staring at the ceiling.

"I'll get going I guess" he says after a while. He gives Rangiku a frustrated scowl as he passes her at the door. He turns back to me and points to my leg. "Ice" he says before he leaves.

Rangiku waits 2 seconds after he's gone before she lets out a high pitched squeal.

"Oh my sweet God! Orihime! Am I going blind or were you just making out with _Ichigo_?!" she says sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"I err well that's… I guess so?" I mumble my face heating up again.

"How?! When?! Tell me everything! I knew this would happen! Oh my!"

I tried telling Rangiku as much as I could, I told her about last night and what happened when we went out for ice cream today but for some reason I didn't mention the first kiss. It was something I wanted to keep to myself somehow. Rangiku kept interrupting me by either shaking my shoulders as she screamed or jumping up and down.

"This is so good! Do you know what Ichigo's nickname is? They call him the ice man. He brushes off any girl that makes a move on him. In fact I was ready to bet he had a thing for Grimmjow but then you come along and aaahh!" Rangiku says excitedly.

I can't help smiling at that, I like the idea that somehow I'm special to Ichigo that maybe my feelings aren't just mine. I didn't want to read too much into it but the kiss earlier has filled me up with hope. That night Rangiku rolls around excitedly, she makes me laugh and blush with all the stories and 'advice' she gives me. As I go to bed I can't wait for tomorrow to come, because tomorrow is another day that I'll get to talk to Ichigo.

The next day my ankle only throbs a little as I walk into class beside Ishida who I'd bumped into on the way to class. Since we're usually the only two that are always early I'm pleasantly surprised to see Ichigo in class. His head is resting on his folded arms on the table. I can tell he's asleep.

"How is he asleep already? This is the first class!" Ishida says shaking his head at Ichigo as he takes his seat next to me. I look down at Ichigo asleep next to me and I feel a twinge of worry, did he have nightmares again?

"Do you still need me to show you the library?" Ishida asks beside me, I tear my gaze away from Ichigo.

"What? Uhh yes, yes please" I smile at Ishida hoping he didn't notice how I was looking at Ichigo.

"We can go after class, if you're free" Ishida offers I smile and nod.

"Go where after class?" Ichigo's husky sleepy voice says. Ichigo sits up and glares at Ishida.

"We're going to the library" I say smiling a bit too eagerly.

"Just the two of you?" Ichigo asks with one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah well I don't really know the way and Ishida offered to show me-"

"I could show you" Ichigo says shrugging.

"You're banned from entering the library if I remember correctly, Kurosaki" Ishida says pushing his glasses up his nose. Ichigo glared at him and I looked between the two of them.

"Why were you banned from the library?" I asked quietly.

"Starting a fight a knocking down 6 shelves will achieve that result" Ishida says.

"Just out of curiosity, do you enjoy being an asshole?" Ichigo spits at Ishida who scoffs and rolls his eyes.

"Well if being an asshole means I'm better and smarter than you then yes" Ishida says.

"You're a fucking little-"

"Err OK. That's enough!" I say laughing nervously. The two of them were growling at each other.

"I might regret asking this but why exactly do the two of you fight so much?" I ask. It's different from the way he fights with Grimmjow who just wants to beat Ichigo to a pulp in a fight. Neither of them answered my question for a while.

"Call your father once in a while, he's gotten into the habit of calling _me_ " Ishida says and Ichigo rolls his eyes.

"Not my problem" Ichigo answers. I frowned at that, I tried piecing together what that could mean and then I gasped.

"Wait are the two of you brothers?" I whisper for some reason.

"What? No! God No!" they both have disgusted looks on their faces.

"As if I could be related to that bug eyed twig" Ichigo mumbles crossing his arms and looking ahead with a deep scowl.

"Due to the unfortunate 'friendship' between our fathers we happen to know each other" Ishida explains and I nod.

"That doesn't explain why you guys fight so much though"

"Because he is a stuck up know it all!" Ichigo says and actually pulls his tongue out at Ishida. I can't help laughing out loud. Ichigo glances at me and then whispers in my ear.

"I'll wait for you outside the library" his lips brushed against my ear as he said the words and my heart slammed against my chest.

 **AN: I'm dropping this here but i'm just going to say now, if you don't hear from me for a while, it's not because i'm dead, it's because i'm going back to my hometown where wi-fi is non-existent. I will try to I don't know hack into someone's wi-fi but...that might not happen. Thank you guys for reviewing your feedback gives me life.**


	9. Chapter 9: Booger covered T-shirts

**AN: I should write apology letters to everyone here for the delay in this chapter but I don't know any of your addresses :D (But seriously i'm so sorry.) Thank you a billion to everyone who reviewed for the last chapters. I don't deserve you guys but I LOVE YOU! On with the chapter!**

Chapter 9: Booger covered T-shirts

Ichigo stayed awake during class, he had a scowl on his face as he wrote down notes in a notebook. I have a feeling that scowl is Ichigo's default facial expression. He turns to look at me and his face softens a bit as he gives me a small smile. I quickly turn back to face my book, slightly embarrassed to be caught staring. His presence alone is overwhelming; he hasn't said anything but he keeps pulling my attention to him. The harder I tried to tear my gaze away the more it was drawn to him. My problem thereby is that my notes were reduced to an incomprehensible scribble.

I saw Ichigo frown and with an amused smile he pointed at my notes. "Interesting handwriting" he says raising his eyebrows. I flushed and pulled my notes away from his line of sight.

"Looks like you dipped a cockroach in ink and let them run around your notebook" he said laughing. My jaw dropped and I playfully slapped his arm. "It's not that bad!" I defended myself.

"Looks like a chicken scrawl-" he said with the same hushed laughter filling the small distance between us.

"Shut up!" I whispered at him.

"It looks like you invented a new language with new alphabets" Ichigo adds and I almost laugh with him but I end up rolling my eyes at him instead with a scoff. His eyes are glinting playfully and the smile on his face hasn't worn off yet. For a second I forget where we are as I'm staring at the expression on Ichigo's face. Ishida's voice on my other side pulls me back to this classroom.

"What is this alien scribble?" He says holding my notebook. I turn and snatch my notebook from his hands with a blush on my cheeks. Ichigo laughs so hard the teacher glared at him.

When class ends I follow Ishida and Ichigo out of the door. Thankfully they aren't bickering anymore. I turn to Ichigo on my right as the three of us walk to the library.

"Ichigo?" I ask nervously. Yesterday I hadn't bothered to ask him about Yammy probably because my mind was fixated on the kiss but now my curiosity was singing.

"Yesterday- you know uhmm when we went out for ice cream, that guy, Yammy. Who was he?" I ask carefully.

"I could tell you but you might run off" Ichigo says in a light teasing tone but the way he smiles tells me he's a bit nervous.

"It's a wonder she didn't run off at the sight of your face Kurosaki" Ishida says. Ichigo glares at him but I stay quiet.

"I wouldn't run from you" I say quietly so that only Ichigo hears. He looks at me and I can't point out exactly what he's feeling but he nods and his fingers brush against mine slightly. Ichigo looks straight ahead and his scowl deepens as if he's fighting with himself about something. I want to reach for his hand to tell him he's not fighting alone, that he never has to fight alone again but his attention is drawn elsewhere. A car driving on the road next to us slows down. The black BMW stops and a black tinted window rolls down. I'm surprised to see the police officer that interrogated Ichigo and I last time. Byakuya, I think was his name. From the passenger seat Rukia steps out and my confusion peaks.

Ichigo sighs and turns towards the car.

"I'll catch up with you guys later" he says walking towards Rukia. I look after Ichigo and Ishida makes an annoyed sound next to me.

"Let's go Orihime, _that_ will take some time" Ishida says pulling me along with him. I turn back to Ichigo who's now talking to Rukia.

"Why is Rukia with that police officer?" I ask Ishida as he leads me up the front stairs of what I assume is the library.

"That's her brother" Ishida says adjusting his glasses as he pushes the door open.

"Her brother?!" I follow Ishida through a clean entrance hall and then through another door that leads into a massive library with high shelves that hold thousands of books. I could gape at the books all day but Ishida continued talking.

"Ichigo and Rukia go way back I guess." He said shrugging. "She's been with him through some rough times"

"Rough times?" I ask in confusion.

"Yeah after his mum died" he says with a solemn scowl on his face. I pause in the middle of reaching for a book.

"How? I mean how did his mum pass away?" I ask, my heart aching for Ichigo.

"I don't think it's something Ichigo would want me to talk about and although I don't give a damn about what he wants, I think that's something you should ask him about yourself"

I don't know what to say in reply to that so I just nod.

"So Rukia and Ichigo- they're really close huh?" I ask in a voice deceptively casual to hide the uneasiness in my heart.

"What? Oh yeah they're really close, maybe one of these days they'll finally pluck up the courage and just get together" Ishida says flipping through a book. He didn't notice how my face went pale at what he just said. Rukia is important to Ichigo. That thought makes me sad somehow, I felt like a third wheel.

Ishida walks to one of the seats on the other side of the library and I follow behind him quietly. I'm not quiet because I'm deep in thought or anything like that; it was more like I couldn't talk even if I knew what to say. My throat felt constricted and my chest felt heavy. Just last night I'd gone to bed with happy thoughts that _maybe_ Ichigo might feel something for me and now all those silly thought felt just…silly.

"Orihime? Where are you going?" Ishida called after me as I walked back through the door where we came from.

"I-I just left something behind, I'll see you tomorrow" I said back to him hiding my feelings with a shaky smile. If Ishida guessed my distress he didn't show it because he nodded and I left. As I stood outside the library I waited one and then two minutes for Ichigo, he might still show up like he said he would. I wanted to face him and just ask if maybe- maybe I'm not crazy or delusional that maybe he kissed me because he likes me even a little. I sighed and looked at my feet; my thoughts were annoying and pathetic even to myself. It's like a clichéd scene right out of a sappy shoujo manga. I sniff and try to shake off the melancholy that's gathered around me, this isn't like me. I don't mope around. I started walking towards the dorms, not paying much attention to my surroundings. I was swirling in thoughts of self pity. Just when I'd decided to myself that I truly liked Ichigo I find out there's no space for me between him and Rukia with their history. They're just like Rangiku and Gin I think bitterly to myself.

Even if I were as focused as a scientist on the brink of a breakthrough the sound of Ichigo's laughter would be able to pull me back into reality. So when I hear Ichigo's laughter I turn to see him and Rukia leaning against the black BMW a few feet away. They were laughing together, so completely focused in whatever they were talking about they didn't even notice me. I squeeze my eyes shut and snap my head away from them.

Without my consent a tear slipped from my eye, I wiped it off quickly and spun on my heel. Suddenly there wasn't anywhere in the world I'd rather be less than here watching Ichigo and Rukia playfully swatting each other. But as I spun around I ran straight into someone. We would have toppled to the ground if he hadn't steadied me with a strong arm. I want to open my mouth to apologize but a shaky sob escaped my lips.

 _No not here._ I beg my flood of tears threatening to be set free. I absolutely don't want to cry here. I look up to the person whose arms were still holding my back. It's Grimmjow, he looks annoyed as he looks down at me and then behind me to where Ichigo was. This scene is horribly familiar I think to myself.

Grimmjow rolls his icy blue eyes and pulls me to his chest, he roughly pats my head almost painfully. I realize then that my tears had already come rushing down. Grimmjow's black t-shirt is soaking up my tears and although the way he's patting my head is giving me a headache I appreciate the gesture. He pulls me away with an arm over my shoulders and my face hidden in his chest. Whether it was from the tears blurring my vision or my troubled state of mind I didn't notice where Grimmjow took me until I felt him pull away and roughly push me onto a bench. He didn't sit next to me instead he folded his arms over his chest and shot me an aggravated look.

"I'd offer you a tissue but you seemed fine using my shirt. There'd better be no damn boogers on it" Grimmjow says. I wipe at the last of my tears and look up at him sheepishly, there probably is some booger mixed in there I think to myself.

"I'm sorry" I mumbled sniffling a little. Grimmjow gave me a disgusted look before he turned away, he looked like he wanted to run away. He paused and then marched back to where I was sitting and sat next to me.

"You like Ichigo" he said gruffly. A blush instantly spreads on my cheeks and I automatically opened my mouth to deny it.

"What? No I-"

"Shut up." He said holding up a hand, "You like Ichigo" he said slower this time, more forcefully as if he was explaining it to me. I looked down at my hands but I didn't answer. Of course I liked him, maybe I'd liked him since that night he'd saved me from those thugs attacking that boy in that dark alley or maybe even before that. I can't even deny it when it's obvious. Why else would I feel jealous over seeing him with Rukia? I liked everything I'd seen so far about Ichigo even when he was being a jerk he had panicked when I'd cried in front of him, his playful teasing and the way he'd kissed me. As I had my epiphany Grimmjow grew inpatient for my response, he reached forward and flicked my forehead-painfully.

"Ow" I mumbled frowning at him. "Y-yeah I think I do" I finally answered. Saying it out loud was terrifying yet liberating.

"Gross" Grimmjow said next to me, I glanced over at him curiously. His dangerous scowl was still in place, he still looked as intimidating as ever but maybe that's just how he looks normally. "I hope you're not expecting me to give you any advice or any shit like that"

I was quiet for a moment then the tears fell from my eyes with renewed purpose. "What do I do?" I said in between sobs. Suddenly it felt like I wasn't just in a sappy shoujo manga but I was in a tragic romance comedy that wasn't even funny anymore. Grimmjow stood up lightning fast and took about five steps away from me.

"Can you stop that!" he barked at me. I jumped at the way he shouted but then I couldn't help crying again, louder even. Grimmjow blinked a few times then looked around uneasily. He took two more steps back and cleared his throat scratching his head; it was like he was afraid of me. I sniffed and rubbed at my eyes, why was I crying so much anyway? Because I like him? No. Because I'm almost a 100% sure he doesn't like me back.

"Just- err take deep breaths-I think" Grimmjow yelled to be heard from a distance. I couldn't help laughing through my tears.

"I'm not going to bite you" I said in between sobs. Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at me and I kept wiping at my eyes.

"Stop crying. It looks like I did something to you" he says and I nod.

"I'm okay now" I said to Grimmjow, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously again as if he was scared I might have another surprise breakdown. He walked back to the bench slowly and sat down on the other edge even slower. There was silence for a while, I was staring down at my feet a bit embarrassed but Grimmjow was sitting very still with his arms folded over his chest. His stiff posture told me he was still uncomfortable around me and he might bolt at any second.

"Grimmjow-kun? Thank you" I said smiling at him. He jumped when I called out his name and then gave me an incredulous look before he shook his head. He stood up and started walking away, he had taken three steps before he froze.

"So are you really grateful?" he asks giving me a look that instantly makes me a bit scared.

"Yeah, that's why I said thank you"

"Yeah, yeah whatever but are you _really_ grateful? Do you want to thank me for real?" I narrow my eyes apprehensively and Grimmjow's smirk falls off.

"OK, I need you to do me a favor"

"What favor?"

"Will you do it if I tell you?" he says with an eyebrow raised.

"No" I say shrugging and Grimmjow glares at me.

"What if I say that fucking word people like you use? What is it- ah yes ' _please'_ do me a favor" he says cringing a little at using the word and I couldn't help laughing.

"Alright alright, don't force yourself" Grimmjow rolls his eyes at me.

"Meet me at the Starbucks down the road from the cafeteria, tomorrow at 1 in the afternoon". He says already walking away. As Grimmjow leaves I think he's a bit weird, he's not exactly scary like I'd first thought but he was intimidating in other ways but also weird.

I'd cried out every last of my tears, I felt hollow and empty now. I wanted to distract myself from all thoughts of Ichigo and whatever relationship he has with Rukia. I walk back to the dorms contemplating what textbook I can bury myself into that would numb out Ichigo.

Of course the room wasn't empty when I opened the door. Rangiku and Gin were in there except unlike every other time they were together when they'd usually always be wrapped around each other, this time they were sitting on opposite sides of the room. Rangiku had her arms crossed over her chest as she glowered at Gin who was pointedly avoiding her glare, staring out of the window.

"Hey" I said looking between the two of them as I close the door behind me.

"Hi." They both said at the same time, neither of them looking at me. Rangiku pursed her full lips in annoyance. Gin continued pointedly avoiding her.

"It's tonight." Rangiku finally said after ten agonizing seconds of silence that consisted of

a) Rangiku glaring at Gin.

b) Gin ignoring Rangiku glaring at him

c) Me watching between the two of them wondering if you can actually suffocate from the awkwardness in a room.

"He said it's tonight. Do I call him?" She narrowed her eyes at Gin in a challenge. Gin didn't even look her way when he said his next words with a closed eyed grin.

"What are you asking me for Ran-chan? You can do what you like, go out with whoever you like" His voice was cold and calm but I noticed his eye twitch. Rangiku didn't notice however because her irritation doubled and she stood up.

"Rangiku? What's going on?" I asked her, Rangiku tore her piercing glare away from Gin and gave me an exasperated smile. She shook her head at me as if to say I shouldn't worry about it and then her eyes turned back to Gin and she took a deep breath.

"It's nothing, Orihime-chan. If I go out with some guy its nothing. If I like him back, it's nothing. Right Gin? " she folded her arms over her chest for the second time. Gin finally turned to her and he had the nerve to shrug. "That's what I said, Rangiku. Go right ahead."

Rangiku's eyes showed how much his indifference hurt her, Gin's curled fists showed how much he _didn't_ mean what he just said. So why can't both of them see that? Why can't they just tell each other their feelings?

"Oh for God's sake. Why don't the two of you get together and stop confusing everyone!" I burst out. Both Gin and Rangiku looked at me surprised. I slapped my hand over my mouth but the words had already escaped I turned around and left the room. It was so obvious how they felt. It was even obvious on Gin who was a walking mystery but how could they not see that?! I was stomping about the hallway mumbling to myself. Wait, why does it bother me so much anyway? I sighed when I realized that this was really about Ichigo and Rukia. Somehow everything always leads back to him.

 **XXX**

When I walked into my room after my classes the next day Rangiku was in there alone, this was unusual because Rangiku was _never_ alone. Gin usually stayed with her until she fell asleep and then he ghosted out of our room. At first I found their attachment to each other strange and that's probably why I snapped at them to finally get together yesterday. But I'd assumed they'd be fine, they cared about each other.

"Rangiku?" I said in a gentle voice as I walked into the room. Her head turned away from the book she was (pretending) to read and she smiled at me. It wasn't the smile I'd become familiar with, the smile bursting with mischievous joy and I felt obligated to make her smile again.

"Are you ok?" I asked sitting next to her on my bed.

"Yeah, of course I am. Why would you think I wouldn't be ok?" she said with the same fading smile.

"You're reading a dictionary…upside down" I pointed out. Rangiku looked at the fat volume in her hands and then after frowning at it she threw it on the opposite wall.

"That was my dictionary, but never mind that. Tell me what's wrong" Rangiku's smile disappeared replaced by a dark scowl.

"I said I'm OK, Orihime. I'm always OK! I always will be" she snapped at me. She stood up and paced to the other end of the room. She ran her fingers through her long hair but I saw how her hands were shaking and a minute later a sob escaped her lips and then another till she was crying curled up on her bed. I walked up to her and curled up next to her. I held her shoulders while she cried; I didn't press her for an explanation because I knew that right now she couldn't explain even if she wanted to. I knew that somehow this was about Gin and I knew as I held her shoulders that she loved Gin.

Love is such a beautiful painful thing I think to myself. It's like a beautiful necklace of rope you wear that can strangle you but you'd smile as it steals your breath away.

"I think I messed up this time, I really messed up" Rangiku whispers after a while. "I went on a date with that guy but that's not a big deal. I always go on dates with guys but this time I-" her voice shook and a fresh wave of tears poured from her.

"It's Ok, Rangiku. Don't cry anymore" Those were the only words I could offer her.

"Right in front of Gin. I-I kissed that guy. I did it to make him mad but I think I hurt him instead because Gin snapped. He beat that guy to a pulp but then he told me to stay away from him. What if he never wants to see me again?" she sobbed her voice had a panicky tone to it.

"That's not true! I'm sure he didn't mean that" I say but Rangiku shakes her head and sits up.

"You don't know Gin like I do, the way he said it so calmly, so cold. I think he hates me" She said and I couldn't find words to soothe her fears.

"Gin-san cares about you! Maybe he just-" Rangiku stood up and wiped the last of her tears.

"Thanks but, I need to go get wasted" She put on her shoes and left. I knew I couldn't do anything to help but I felt like I didn't do anything at all. Silently I hoped that somehow they made it through this. I pulled out a textbook and got to work. My mind drifted to Ichigo as I studied and I felt frustration build up in my chest. Why can't I drive him out of my heart and thoughts especially since I know I might end up crying if I kept this up? I went to bed frustrated with myself, sad for Rangiku and generally annoyed with Ichigo and his all round handsomeness.

The next day after my classes I headed for the Starbucks to meet with Grimmjow. I'm not sure why he wanted to meet me here but I guess I'll find out I think as I reach to open the door. I look around the slightly packed coffee shop and I find Grimmjow seating in a small booth. I walk up to the booth and he looks up from his phone.

"You're finally here, took you long enough" he said and I roll my eyes. I was exactly on time.

"So why did you want to meet here?" I ask picking up the menu. He reaches for my wrist and pulls me to sit next to him in the booth.

"Sit here" he says and I frown in confusion.

"Grimmjow? What's going on?" He isn't even looking at me, he's staring at the door.

"Ok you know that favor? Here's what I need from you. This is a date are we clear?" he says and my eyes widen. I move away from Grimmjow and I feel my face heating up.

"Grimmjow! Do you like me? I- err I don't know what to say. I'm sorry but I can't accept your feelings but I-" I start mumbling nervously.

"God No, shut up. This is a date, so play along" he says in his low deep voice as a grin forms on his lips as he drapes his arm over my shoulder. I'm still confused; none of what he's saying makes any sense to me.

"Play along?" I ask looking at him in puzzlement he winks and then looks towards the door again. I'm about to push his arm off me till I look up. Ichigo is standing right there, right in front of our booth. His eyes scan over me and then turn to Grimmjow. He walks towards us and I feel my palms sweating. He doesn't meet my eyes but somehow I want him to.

"Don't the two of you look adorable" Ichigo says, his voice sounds cold and furious.

 **AN: Let me know what you thought! I love your theories and reviews, you guys are probably a lot smarter than i am. Till next time my fellow Ichihime shippers!**


	10. Chapter 10: This counts as kidnapping

**AN: Look who's back! and here's an update! Thank you guys so much for your reviews i love you guys so much! I love seeing the longtime readers, the guest reviews, you guys give me life.**

Chapter 10: This counts as kidnapping

"Don't the two of you look adorable" Ichigo says, his voice sounds cold and infuriated.

"Ichigo I-" I start to say but Grimmjow interrupts me.

"If we look just adorable I must be doing something wrong" he says pulling me closer to him. I turn to glare at him but Ichigo's laughter snaps my attention back to him.

"I expected nothing less from _you_ " Ichigo spits at Grimmjow whose sadistic grin grows wider.

"What the fuck are you going to do about it?" he says taunting Ichigo and leaning forward. Ichigo's eyes burn in fury and for a second I'm scared he'll punch Grimmjow right here. Each time I try to move away from Grimmjow he pulls me closer till my whole body is pressed to his side.

"Orihime, move away from that asshole" he says through gritted teeth still not looking at me. "Please" he adds a moment later. I don't hesitate to pry myself away from Grimmjow but he laughs loudly.

"You have no manners Ichigo, you're ruining my date" he says and Ichigo's eyes widen at that, for the first time he looks at me. His eyes look betrayed and I hate that those eyes are directed at me.

"You're on a date with him?" Ichigo says, his eye twitches a little and he clenches his jaw.

"Ichigo-"I start to say but again I'm interrupted but this time by Rukia's voice.

"Ok I got the doughnuts and our coffee. Let's go" she says appearing next to Ichigo carrying a box and two coffee cups. Ichigo doesn't move at all his eyes are staring at mine and I can't even blink under that gaze.

"Orihime? And Grimmjow? Are you two-" Rukia starts saying but Ichigo interrupts her.

"Let's go Rukia, leave them to it." Ichigo says before walking towards the door. He doesn't look back and Rukia follows after him. I sit there in that booth frozen till I remember the blue haired traitor seated beside me.

"What was that?!" I hiss angrily at him. Grimmjow shrugs and I'm scared I might lose myself and slap him.

"I told you to play along didn't I? so to be fair I did warn you"

"You used me to provoke Ichigo! You knew they would be here!" I point an accusing finger at him but Grimmjow doesn't even have the nerve to try to deny my accusation. I stand up from the booth and leave the coffee shop, my chest is flooded with anger at Grimmjow that's why when I feel someone pull my wrist I snatch it back and turn around angrily.

"I don't see why the fuck you're so mad about this" Grimmjow says and my jaw drops.

"Why won't I be mad?! You set me up!"

"Calm down OK. This worked out for both of us." He says slipping his hands into his pocket.

"I don't see how any of that wasn't a disaster"

"He got pissed didn't he? that means he was jealous" Grimmjow says and I blink a few times. For a second I consider this, it makes sense. Ichigo was angry because he was jealous which would mean he likes me.

"Yeah and then he went with Rukia as if nothing ever happened. I wish you hadn't set me up in a situation like that at all" I say quietly. Grimmjow takes a step closer to me and I flinch when he reaches out towards me with his hand. He pulls his arm back and then sighs.

"Ugh I don't even know why I bother, fuck this I'm out" He says walking back into the coffee shop. I frown and walk the opposite way.

I go back to my dorms and all I have on my mind is the look on Ichigo's face playing on repeat. As my mind is tumbling with different thoughts I almost don't hear my phone ring. I smile when I see the name on the screen.

"Tatsuki-chan! I've missed you" I said feeling the weight on my chest lift somehow.

"Oh God Orihime, you have no idea how much I miss you too. The other karate trainees here are total jerks. I almost punched someone! Uggh I'm so sick of this place, I might give up on all this" she says and I laugh lightly. "But what's going on with you?" she asks and my smile falters. Where do I start.

"Oh you know- same old same old" I say unconvincingly.

"Tell me what's wrong" Tatsuki says seriously and I sigh.

"Tatsuki-chan it's nothing it's just- I have this friend and she uhmm kind of likes this guy. They're not dating but err they've kissed so she thought they could be together but then there's a chance he's kind of maybe uhmm involved with someone else. Wha-what should my friend do? I'm asking for her because I'm worried… for her" I say. There is silence for a long second and I grip the phone nervously.

"Orihime, I don't get it but this guy sounds like he needs a beating. I could hurt him for you if you want" I can't help laughing, that was such a Tatsuki solution.

"I don't want you to get hurt OK? Stay away from guys that aren't serious about you. And how have you already fallen for someone! It's only been a month!"

"I was asking for my friend!" I say but Tatsuki is laughing.

"Fine then I'll call you later. Tell me if you want me to hurt this guy"

"OK…for my friend of course" I say and hang up before Tatsuki could laugh again.

 **XXXX**

The next day I went back to being myself, my mood swings yesterday had worn me out. I smiled brighter than usual, laughed louder than usual and it was all extremely forced. Ishida looked at me a bit concerned but I gave him a random explanation about how blue men crawl into my ears sometimes and made me a bit weird, this of course confused him instead of reassuring him. The day after was no different, I avoided Ichigo expertly, somehow I thought if I didn't see him for long enough, I'd forget my feelings and they'd just go away.

"Ok seriously, what is going on?" Ishida asked days after when I had ducked into a bush when I thought I'd seen Ichigo.

Stealth mode: Ninja. I think proudly.

It must have been pretty obvious that I'm avoiding Ichigo, I heaved a sigh and crawled out of the bush. Ishida looked concerned as he led me away from my ninja hideout. I leaned heavily against a wall of the school building and Ishida waited for an explanation.

"I'm avoiding Ichigo" I said. He immediately frowned at that.

"Did he do something to you?" he asked sounding worried. I smiled and shook my head.

"No, he didn't. I just need time to arrange my thoughts" _and my feelings_ I think to myself. My heart just didn't seem to understand that having feelings for Ichigo would be messy and possibly painful.

"If you need me to tell him to back off tell me." I smiled at the serious look on Ishida's face.

"What would you do?" I ask and he chuckles under his breath.

"Ichigo is surprisingly easy to blackmail" he says but before I could ask him what he meant he was walking ahead leading me onwards.

"If you haven't signed up for any extracurricular activities you could work at the library for extra credit. It'd be a nice hiding spot from that caveman"

"Really? I can do that?" I ask.

"Well yes, Nanao-san has been looking for some help. She'd love to have you" I feel excitement swell up in me and I thank Ishida hurriedly. It flashes through my mind that I don't have to worry about bumping into Ichigo in there since he can't go into the library.

The library is the perfect distraction and the librarian is a lovely lady who looks to be in her twenties, she's not very chatty but I'm hoping I can change that. I've been assigned to arrange old books on the shelves and sorting out the damaged ones which I'm supposed to keep in the storage room. The work is easy enough and it keeps me busy.

"So this is where you've been hiding?" I hear the one voice I'd been avoiding like the plague, behind me. It's only been a week since operation avoid-Ichigo-at-all-cost began but the sound of his voice is enough to pull me back under. Without rationalizing I dove under a table, as if he hadn't already seen me. My heart was going full on crazy. It was beating to a frenzied beat of a song I didn't know and I had to somehow calm myself down.

Slowly I heard Ichigo's footsteps walking towards the table. How is he even here? I thought he was banned from the library. My thoughts are scattered everywhere when he crouches down and looks at me. He doesn't smile when he says dryly "Found you" I bite my lip and look up at the bottom of the table (someone stuck gum there, I need to remember to fix that later)

"So you've been avoiding me" Ichigo says in a matter of fact voice.

"No, not avoiding- just purposely trying to be wherever you're not" I mumble and Ichigo scowls at me.

"Why?" he asks simply. A simple question with so many answers but I just chose the first one I can think of.

"I don't think that we should be around each other" I still don't look at Ichigo so I don't know how he reacted to what I said but I know I might start crying.

"Get out from there" he says in a clipped tone. I cross my arms aver my chest and turn away from him with a childish pout of my own. "Orihime" he says in a warning tone. I don't see why he should be annoyed with _me,_ why after not seeing each other for a week I was the one flustered and he just kept scowling, maybe he was a bit angry about what happened with Grimmjow but he doesn't even know the full story. Ichigo stayed silent for a full minute waiting for me but when I didn't get up he growled under his breath in irritation.

"Fine, do whatever you want" he said standing up abruptly, kicking aside one of the chairs as he turned on his heel to walk away. I watched his retreating feet from under the table grasping onto the annoyance I'd felt earlier. Being annoyed with him was easier than liking him. What was wrong with him? I thought to myself frowning at the piece of gum stuck under the table.

I didn't even hear Ichigo's footsteps when he returned that's why I was completely caught off guard when I felt him grab my ankle in his hand. He _dragged_ me out from under the table with my ankle. I'm pretty sure there was a scene like this in a movie about kidnapping.

"What are you doing!" I kept my voice low because technically we were still in the library. I tried pulling my ankle free but Ichigo kept dragging me along. I was glad I had spontaneously decided to wear jeans today, a skirt would have made this situation infinitely more embarrassing.

"Ichigo! Let me go!" I whisper-shouted. Ichigo raised a finger to his lips and shushed me.

"Don't shush me! You shush! This totally counts as kidnapping!" I hissed at him and Ichigo almost smiled as he let my ankle go only to pull me along with him into the storage room. After he closed the door behind him we stood there staring at each other.

"Is it because of something that bug eyed alien said about me?" Ichigo said breaking the silence that to be honest was starting to drive me mad.

"What?" I asked in confusion, Ichigo didn't look angry anymore he looked guarded as he pressed himself to the opposite wall, which in this small storeroom was only two steps away. "What are you talking about?"

"The reason you're avoiding me? Is it because of something Ishida said or was it that asshole Grimmjow?" he crossed his arm as he watched me with the same guarded look in his eyes.

"No" I say quietly looking down at my feet, the air between us was thick and awkward and I felt like it was my fault but I don't even know if I'm supposed to apologize. Ichigo must have been hurt when I suddenly started avoiding him especially since I said I'd be his friend. But after what's happened between us I knew I just can't be his friend, even the thought of pretending to be just friends felt absurd.

"Then did I finally scare you off?" his tone was light and joking but the look on his face was anything but. I sighed and shook my head.

"I'm not scared of you Ichigo, that's ridiculous" I say. Ichigo walks towards me closing the space between us. With a finger he lifts my chin, his eyes staring into mine.

"Then why" he twirls a strand of my hair with his fingers, "are you trying to stay away from me? Why were you on a date with _Grimmjow?!_ " he says and my breath catches at the tone of his voice.

"It wasn't a date, not really I mean, it wasn't a date date. I just owed him a favor and the favor was to uhmm go..." my voice trailed off as I looked at Ichigo, none of my rambling seemed to ease his annoyance. He ran his fingers through his already messy hair and frowned at me.

"You were avoiding _me_ but hanging out with Grimmjow is fine? He's ten times worse than I am! What did you ask him to be friends too?"

"Ichigo, stop. That's not how it is" I stand up straighter although it doesn't make a difference next to Ichigo's towering height.

"Then how is it Orihime!?" Ichigo shouted and I was taken aback by the intensity in his voice.

"Don't shout we're in a library" I mumbled after a moment of silence.

"Don't change the subject" Ichigo said pointing a finger at me.

"I'm not changing the subject-well I am but-"A part of me wants to spill out my guts to him to tell him how I wanted to be with him but the other part was flat out terrified that Ichigo wouldn't reciprocate my feelings.

"But what?" he asked and took a step even closer to me.

"I wasn't on a date with Grimmjow, it's not how it looked like" I say quietly, Ichigo's frown clears up and he sighs .

"I don't understand why you care though. I don't-"I pluck up my courage to ask him the one question that's been burning in my mind for so long.

"Why did you kiss me?" I ask in a whisper only Ichigo would hear. His shoulders tense up and for a half second I see his eyes show nervousness. "I've stayed up thinking about it again and again and its driving me crazy Ichigo"

"Orihime… I- I don't know" he says and his answer makes me angry, I seem to be doing that a lot these days.

"So were you just-playing around with me?" I ask my voice showing just how much my heart is hurting. Ichigo takes a deep breath and runs his fingers through his hair again in frustration. He turns away and takes two steps away from me and then takes three steps back to me pressing my back to the wall, his hands caging me on both sides of the wall behind me.

"Look Orihime, nothing about you makes sense. You are a walking disaster of rainbows and randomness and happiness. You're painfully beautiful and this past week it pissed me off so much that you were avoiding me and I just kept thinking about you and then I couldn't stop thinking about you and that pissed me off even more. I almost lost it when I saw you with Grimmjow in that coffee shop and I don't understand why. I don't – I just" Ichigo's voice broke off and his brown eyes were tearing away at my soul and his words were stripping away at my heart. I opened my mouth to say something but Ichigo didn't give me a chance he leaned away from me, after taking a breath his eyes hold my attention again.

"What I mean, is that this is new for me. So I don't know OK? I really don't but- don't avoid me anymore" his voice sounded as sincere as his eyes were and when I blinked there were tears in my eyes. Ichigo cringed and walked back to me in a single step.

"Fuck, Orihime. Don't cry, I mean I'm sorry ok? I'm trying here" I laugh and shake my head.

"I'm fine really, I'm OK" I say and for the first time this past week that was true. Ichigo gives me a half smile. I want to stay like this in this moment were nothing else matters, were there aren't any unanswered questions I want to ask, were all that matters is the way Ichigo's thumb feels lightly tracing circles on my cheek. Ichigo doesn't move away from me either and there is a perfect silence between us.

"If I remember correctly, you kissed me back" Ichigo said in a low voice and my cheeks flared up. Before I can come up with a retort there's a knock on the door.

"Orihime-chan? Are you in there?" the librarian asked trying to open the locked door. "I heard voices, are you in there with someone?" Ichigo's eyes widened and then he cleared his throat.

"Uhh No, it's just me" he said it in a high pitched voice and I gave him an incredulous look. Was that supposed to be me?

"I don't sound like that!" I whisper and Ichigo slaps his hand over my mouth.

"Who's that?" the librarian sounded angry as she tried to yank the door open again. I pulled Ichigo's hand away from my mouth.

"No, it's just me. I- I just had to get some stuff! I'll be out in a minute" I said but the she was banging on the door now. "Hide!" I whispered to Ichigo.

"Where!" he whispered back, there was nowhere to hide in this small store room. There wasn't even a window. Ichigo rolled his eyes and walked to the door.

"Could you give us a minute? We're in the middle of something!" he yelled and smiled back at me giving me a thumbs up. My jaw dropped.

"Open the door this instant! What are you doing in there?!" the librarian screamed in a shrill voice.

"We're putting our clothes back on!" Ichigo yelled and I ran to the door in a panic, he's going to get me fired.

"No we're not!" I yelled my voice sounded like a squeak. I tried to reach around Ichigo to open the door but he blocked my way with that amused smirk on his face.

"Move!" I whispered to him but he didn't budge.

"Admit you kissed me back" he said and my blush intensified.

"God you look adorable when you blush" Ichigo said laughing and I covered my face with my hands. My heart had gone haywire and I'm pretty sure I'm overheating.

"Orihime are you-" the librarian's voice snapped me back to the situation at hand.

"No! I'm not doing anything!" I yelled through the locked door.

"Yeah we're actually still in the middle of-" Ichigo started saying until I slapped my hand over his mouth. He was still laughing and my eyes were wide with panic.

"Shutupshutupshutup!" I whispered in a single breath. The urgent knocking on the door was turning me into a nervous mess and Ichigo was grinning, like an adorable jerk. What do I do? It's at this moment i truly wish I had the power to disappear like 'poof'.

"Open this door right this-" the librarian started saying until Ichigo just turned around and opened the door.

"Orihime! What is the meaning of this?! Kurosaki Ichigo?! What are you doing in here! You have been banned from this library for life! You shouldn't be in here-" The librarian shrieked. Ichigo turned back to me and winked before he ran out of the library.

After about five seconds of standing there silently I turned to the librarian and smiled. "I'll just...go back to work then?"

AN: How was that for an update huh? I don't even know who is more clueless Orihime or Ichigo. Anyways as always leave me a review to let me know what you guys are thinking! Love ya! Till next time (I should really have an update schedule)


	11. Chapter 11:Seduce me or get me sick

Chapter 11: You're either trying to seduce me or get me sick

"Did you make sure she had enough breakfast?"

"Err yes?"

"Has she had lunch yet?"

"Uhmm no, she's taking a nap"

"She can't have a nap on an empty stomach she'll wake up cranky and-"

"Gin-san why don't you just go in and check on her yourself?" I said a bit weary with Gin's interrogation on every single thing Rangiku has been doing. He was crouched outside our room peeping into the keyhole to watch Rangiku sleeping. He didn't even shy away in embarrassment when I'd walked in on him as I came back from the library.

"You're clearly worried about her. Do I call her out here for you?" I offered with a smile but Gin's impassive expression didn't change, he just stared into the keyhole.

"Does it seem like I'm worried? Maybe I'm just curious" he says with a smirk. I almost roll my eyes at the obvious lie.

"She's been miserable these past few days! She wants to make things right. Please just go back to her?" I had stopped myself several times these past few days from interfering with Gin and Rangiku's issues but I couldn't sit by anymore.

"Go back to her huh?" Gin says putting his hands in his pockets as he stood up straightening his long legs out. "This is her punishment" he said opening his electric blue eyes he glanced at the keyhole one more time before he left. I stared at his retreating back and then at the keyhole, I sighed and entered the room, I woke Rangiku up and told her to eat some lunch.

"Is it true you and Ichigo were hooking up in the store room in the library?" Rangiku said the second I woke her up.

"What?! Where did you hear that?"

"And you didn't come out until you were both done?"

"That happened an hour ago and you were sleeping? How did you even hear that? And that's not what happened!" I said but Rangiku winked at me.

"The library store room? You're bad Orihime-chan, you sly fox." She said poking my ribs.

"I'm telling you that's not what happened!" There was a blush on my cheeks but Rangiku laughed loudly as she stood up.

"Come on, let's go eat something" she said. I was so glad to see her smiling again I didn't question her mysterious all knowing power.

Rangiku and I went out for lunch, it was rare for us to do something together, usually Gin and someone else made up our group. Rangiku's eyes wandered around the small restaurant uneasily.

"Are you looking for Gin?" I asked and she pouted as she poked at her plate of pasta.

"He hasn't come to see me once. He must be really mad" she said. I wondered to myself if I should mention that he's been spying on her and taking care of her from afar but then I decided I probably shouldn't get on Gin's bad side.

"Maybe he wants you to go after him" I said and Rangiku's eyes widen. She doesn't say anything else even while we walked back to our room. I was about to say something but she suddenly announced she had to go.

"Where are you going?!" I called after her even though I already knew. "Don't wait up! I'll be back late!" she yelled back at me as she ran. I was beyond relieved that her and Gin would hopefully make up. I didn't want to endure another interrogation from him. I walked back to the dorms alone but with a smile on my face. A smile that stayed on my face even after I'd put on my pajamas to go to bed.

I was woken the next morning by something poking my face. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter to somehow force myself back into sleep. Whatever was disturbing my sleep persisted with the poking and I groaned into my pillow.

"Rangiku, just go back to bed, it's so early" I mumbled clutching my pillow. I hear someone that is not Rangiku chuckle next to me. My eyes fly open and I stare at Ichigo in surprise, when I don't speak or move he pokes my cheek with his index finger and that's when I sit up quickly.

"Ichigo! What-what are you doing here?... Rangiku's not here" I say after a quick glance at Rangiku's empty bed. Ichigo sits next to me and shrugs.

"I'm not here to see Rangiku. I'm here to see you" he says in a smooth voice that I'm way to groggy to fully appreciate.

"Me?" I point at myself and Ichigo nods slowly. "Why? What's wrong?" I ask blinking a few times. Ichigo shrugs and stands up.

"Nothing's wrong I want to show you something. You're not still avoiding me are you?" he asks and I shake my head.

"Good, then come on. Get dressed" he says holding his hand out to me with a smile playing on the corner of his lips.

It takes me twenty minutes to get dressed. Ichigo waits outside the room while I get dressed, I can't help remembering the first time we met when I'd accidentally turned up naked in front of him and then tackled him onto my bed still naked. My cheeks heat up at the memory as I shove my feet into sandals quickly to meet Ichigo. He's standing leaning against the wall staring down at his black sneakers when I walk up to him. He looks up and smiles at me as he leads me down the hallway.

"Where are we going?" I ask Ichigo. He scowls as if deep in thought then he looks at me with a teasing smirk.

"It's a surprise" he says and my lips split into a wide smile, I love surprises especially any arranged by Ichigo.

"What kind of surprise? You should know it's not my birthday but if it's a surprise birthday party I'll play along and act surprised" I say Ichigo laughs quietly as he leads me out in the open air. It's still quite early and since it's a Saturday the campus outside is almost entirely empty. I follow Ichigo into what I recognize as Renji's car. Once we're both inside Ichigo starts the engine and drives out of the school grounds.

As he drives I keep asking him to give me clues about where we're going, he doesn't though. So I kept guessing random places and Ichigo either laughed or rolled his eyes at each random surprise I could think of. The atmosphere between us is comfortable and I high-five myself each time I make Ichigo laugh loudly. When I look outside the window I'm surprised that we've driven into a more grassy countryside area with trees on either side of the road. The scenery is enchanting, with the windows rolled down, the wind ruffles Ichigo's hair and he looks so good I almost can't tear my eyes away from his profile.

"Where are we going this looks-" my sentence is interrupted by a loud clanking sound from the engine of the car. My eyes widen when I notice some smoke seeping from the front of the car.

"Ugh fuck. Not now please" Ichigo mutters with a scowl.

"What's wrong? Is the car broken?" he grips the steering wheel tightly as the engine makes sputtering sounds.

"Noo! Damn it!" he curses as the car slows down and with one last mechanical groan the car stops altogether. Ichigo squeezes his eyes shut with his head tilted up.

"Are you praying? Cause I think we should go out and check the engine it's kind of smoking" I whisper and Ichigo looks at me with one eye. He unbuckles his seatbelt and jumps out of the car. He mumbles to himself the whole time and I can't help giggling.

"Great just great" he says a minute later after examining the engine with concentration. He nods to himself, deep in thought and scratches his chin examining the engine with a very professional look.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"I have no idea" he says with a grimace.

"What?"

"I don't know anything about fixing a car" he shrugs and I laugh.

"What do we do then? Do we call someone?"

"Yeah that's a good idea. Hold on let me-" he takes his phone out of his pocket and dials a number. I watch him scowl as he waits for the person to pick up.

"Renji. Listen I- what? No I don't have any food in my room stay out of there. Listen there's something wrong with the car" he started pacing in front of the car as he talked to Renji. I watched him quietly; somehow I didn't want the car to get fixed. This was exciting, being stranded here with Ichigo. I giggled under my breath and Ichigo glanced at me.

"I said I don't have any food- stay away from my room, seriously." He says before he hangs up and then walks back towards the car; he closed the hood and then sighed.

"I can get someone to fix it, there's a gas station not too far from here. I could-"

"Let's go together" I pitch in standing next to him.

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not. This is exciting!" I laugh we slowly start walking side by side. Ichigo stuffs his hands into his jacket pocket, he's scowling of course but it's a different scowl. Something's bothering him and that's why it bothers me too. I bite my lip nervously; I want to ease his discomfort somehow.

"This is not going as planned" he says quietly staring at the road ahead as if picking a fight with it.

"No, really I'm fine with this. It's like an adventure! What could happen on this quest? Will we run into a herd of unicorns that will show us into their magical cave? Tune in to find out!" I ramble nervously. Ichigo smiles a bit.

"Well your 'date' with Grimmjow went smoothly without any possible run ins with unicorns" he says and my cheeks flush.

"It wasn't a date. I told you that already" I mumble quietly brushing my hair back that the wind tousled.

"Yeah still." He says frowning deeper, "I guess this is what I get for trying something flashy. That's so unlike me" he shakes his head. I open my mouth to protest, to tell him just spending the day with him is a treat for me.

"This was all Rukia's idea" he sighs and my feet stop moving me forward. Ichigo walks a few steps forward before he realizes I'm not following anymore. The wind has picked up and I'm grateful my face is covered by my hair.

"I think I'll wait in the car" I turn back and walk away from Ichigo. The excitement I'd felt earlier seems to have evaporated completely at the mention of Rukia. The fact that this unplanned adventure was her idea makes my throat constrict. Yup this feeling is definitely jealously.

His hands wrap around my wrist and he turns me back to him. I keep my face neutral when I look up at him. He doesn't say anything for a while and neither do I.

"I'm sorry this- this isn't going like I thought it would. I messed up right?" he says. I look down at my feet.

"Are you really doing all this because Rukia told you to?" I ask Ichigo, he frowns in confusion.

"No, that's-"

"Ichigo I- I wasn't going to say anything but-" my courage vanished just as I was finally going to ask him about whatever is between him and Rukia and I couldn't push out the words instead I laughed shakily. "Never mind, I'm going into the car it's getting really windy" I don't manage to take a single step away from him because he turns me to face him and grips my shoulders.

"Wait wait wait" he says looking at me carefully. "I asked you to come with me because _I_ wanted to. I didn't do it because anyone told me to" he says.

"So- you and Rukia aren't like you know- fated to be together or something?" I mumble the embarrassing words I've been carrying around with me for ages. Ichigo's eyes widen, my cheeks redden and in the next second the sky dumps heavy wet drops of rain on us. Ichigo laughs and I yelp as the cold drops soak me instantly.

Ichigo holds my hand and we run towards the car, by the time we reach it we're both soaked. Ichigo unlocks the door and I jump into the backseat with Ichigo following behind me. He has a wide grin on his face when he slams the door shut.

"Why are you smiling so much?" I ask staring at him warily.

"You're cute" he says and my heart does a back flip.

"Where did that come from?" I squeeze the water from my hair and try not to faint from the way Ichigo is looking at me.

"You thought there was something between me and Rukia? Where did that idea come from?" he scooched closer to me, the raindrops drip from his hair and it somehow makes him look like he's sparkling.

"Ishida-kun said that Rukia has been with you through some rough times. She knows you better than I could ever hope to. You can talk to her about stuff you don't want to tell me. That's why-" as I said all this my fingers smooth over my wet skirt nervously. Ichigo isn't smiling anymore and he leans back on the seat. He stares out of the window with a scowl, his jaw clenches a few times.

"I think you'd like me better if you didn't know me so well" he says with a shaky breath.

"That's not true" I say moving closer to him. He eyes me over with a frown and then shrugs his jacket off his shoulders placing it on my shoulders. His jacket was just as wet as everything else but the thought behind the gesture was enough to warm me up. There's a silence between us and I don't try to break it first instead I reach for his hand and squeeze it with both of mine.

"I seriously fucking hate the rain." Ichigo says after a while, my eyes are glued to his face and the far-off look in his eyes. "my mum died on a day just like this one" I squeeze his hand but he's still frowning at the rain splattering against the window of the car.

"I've relived that day countless times in my nightmares but the outcome is always the same, and it was my fault" his voice is thick and I want to hold him tightly.

"Ichigo that's-" he shakes his head interrupting what I was about to say, he gives me a smile that doesn't thaw the sadness buried in his eyes.

"Rukia was my friend in middle school and in high school, I owe her a lot." He finishes and looks at me, I have so many more questions but I don't want to press him for them, it must be hard for him to tell anyone this. My chest tightens and I can't hold myself back anymore, I launch myself at Ichigo. My arms tightly wrap themselves around his neck. He sighs and rests his head on my crook of my neck.

"I wish I could change the weather for you, like the sun" I whisper, my fingers run into Ichigo's hair and he circles his arms around my waist, hugging me tighter to him.

"You already have, you're like my sun" he murmurs into my neck and I shiver, holding him impossibly tighter. I move my legs and straddle his laps. We're both wet and cold but this moment was burning through my veins with fiery heat. When he looks up into my eyes, the tenderness in his eyes knocks the breath out of me. No, really. I literally sneezed right then, straight into his face. Ichigo laughs and wipes his face.

"Excuse me! Oh no, I'm sorry" I'm absolutely mortified at myself, way to kill the romance Orihime.

"You're either trying to seduce me or get me sick" he says with a roguish grin. I cover my face with both hands to hide my embarrassment and Ichigo laughs louder. He hugs me to his chest and I feel the vibrations of his laughter.

"Stop laughing" I mumble into his shirt.

"But you're really going to catch a cold at this rate" he frowns as he looks down at me with concern, just like that he's moved from teasing playfulness to overprotective concern. I love it. He slowly lifts me and places me on the seat beside him so that he can lean forward towards the dashboard. He tries turning up the heat of the car and curses when it doesn't work.

"I strongly think you should take off your shirt" Ichigo says when he leans back on the seat beside me. He nods seriously but he can't hide the mischievous glint in his eyes.

"What? No way" I say despite the blush on my cheeks. Good job Orihime, girl power and all that. Be strong don't be swayed by those gorgeous brown eyes of his.

"It's wet you're going to catch a cold. I'm simply worried about you" he bats his eyes innocently and I laugh.

"Also your shirt is very see-through so I can see everything anyways" he points and my head snaps down to my white shirt and sure enough my pink bra is very visible through the wet shirt that clings to my chest like a second skin. I gasp and cover my chest quickly.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" I pull the clinging fabric and Ichigo tries and fails to stop himself from laughing.

"Sorry really, I just didn't know how to mention it, that's why I gave you the jacket" he says, the faint trace of a blush on his cheeks tells me he really was too embarrassed to point it out to me. He clears his throat and looks up at the roof of the car.

"You're cute" I'm smiling at him. He scoffs and looks away from me, the blush on his cheeks still very present.

"So what was the surprise?" I ask him, he's looking up at the roof of the car intensely. With an uncharacteristic burst of courage I take off my wet shirt. Ichigo glances at me and the look he gives me makes my cheeks heat up.

"What?" he asks absent mindedly as his eyes hungrily examine my exposed skin.

"The surprise. What was the surprise?"

"Oh that, it was supposed to be a picnic but I just realized I forgot the food. Pretty sure Renji ate it" he said his eyes tearing away from my chest to give me a smile. Behind him the sun shines through the window.

"It's stopped raining" I say and Ichigo looks out of the window behind him where the sun was fighting off the last of the grey clouds. My eyes wander back to Ichigo, to me he was brighter than the sun.

I loved him, I realized.

 **AN: So thank you a billion to every one of you that's reviewed! I'm so happy and so grateful! I love you lots! I'm not going to make empty promises about fast updates but i can say this... the next chapter will be up 'soon'**


	12. Chapter 12: Minnie mouse pajamas

**AN: Heyyy! so here's an update! but before that OMG ICHIHIME IS CANON! YESSSS! literally all my dreams have come true. I'm so happy!**

Chapter 12 : Minnie mouse pajamas and black boots

The car was warm, a bit too warm but maybe it just felt that way because of the way Ichigo was looking at me. I was torn between wanting to poke his eyes and grabbing him for a kiss. I pretended to be busy drying my hair with my fingers but I was very aware of his eyes on me.

Say something Orihime, say something! I urged my usually active brain that now seems to be completely vacant.

"So…lovely weather today huh?" I say nervously, a second later I groan at the ridiculous statement. Ichigo's lips twitch in amusement.

"Yeah it's lovely" he says sarcastically. I frown at him and my brain starts working overtime. I file through the department of random conversation starters in my brain but it seems everything has been turned upside down by Ichigo's mere presence. While I'm searching for something to say Ichigo laughs.

"What?"

"I can practically see the clogs in your brain turning. You're over thinking" he says and I laugh nervously.

"I don't-I don't over think" I clear my throat and Ichigo chuckles again.

"Come here" he says patting the space next to him. It was like an invitation from the devil, the amused smirk on his lips was daring me to come closer and the look in his eyes told me just what would happen if I did. So of course I did the only rational thing anyone would do and dove right into the spot next to him.

Ichigo held my shoulders and turned me slowly so that I was turned towards him on the leather seat of the car. With his fingers he slowly weaved through the damp strands of my hair untangling them. I held my breath and watched him, it's at times like this when he looks so tender and soft that my heart melts. I sighed and leaned into the warmth of his hand, he stroked the skin on my neck and I giggled softly.

"That tickles" I say and he smiles pressing his forehead to mine. We were so close to each other but we weren't kissing yet. We both lean forward at the same time and a smile curves my lips. There's a ticking in my head counting down the seconds until I can feel his lips on mine. Our lips brush slightly but a thought slips through my mind and I hesitate. I pause and sigh as I look into Ichigo's eyes.

"Are we going to pretend this one didn't happen?" I whisper. Ichigo's eyes widen for a second and then he holds my face with both hands as he stares at me intently.

"Orihime I-"he trails off and then smiles after taking a deep breath. "Never again. I'm sorry for all the bullshit before" he says, my face splits into a wide smile as I circle my arms around his shoulders. I kiss him in between my laughter, it feels like I'm drowning in happiness and I feel lighter than I have in weeks. The light playful kisses soon turn into something else when Ichigo holds my waist to kiss me harder, I'm straddling him and he leans back on the car seat. He moves his lips over mine in a way that is both rough and intoxicatingly soft.

When our lips part Ichigo kisses my neck, brushing the damp strands of my hair over my shoulder.

"Orihime" he breathes out my name and my heart shudders at the raspiness in his voice.

"Mmhh?" I'm clinging onto his shoulders tightly the light kisses on my neck are driving me crazy.

"What I wanted to tell you after we kissed at the party and last time in your room-" he says into the crook of my neck.

"What is it?" he clears his throat and doesn't say anything.

"Ichigo?" I look at him in confusion but when he abruptly kisses me again I forget everything else. His hands move up from my waist, one hand on my back teases the strap of my bra. I gasp and I feel him smirk against my lips. It's like he knows how much he affects me, how much I want him. I pull back and Ichigo watches me with that sexy smirk, he's waiting to see what I'll do and to be honest I don't even know what to do. But he's patient, he doesn't move until I do. I tug his shirt up and he lifts his arms to help me take it off. I lean forward and kiss him again, this time neither of us waste any time. My hands skim over the tight muscles of his chest, trailing down lower and I don't even realize where I'm touching him until he holds my hand, stopping my fingers at the top of his jeans.

"Not yet" he says with a smirk, he places both my hands around his neck. He kisses me, pulling out embarrassing sounds from me with every movement of his tongue against mine.

I moan a bit too loud when Ichigo sucks on my bottom lip, his hand slides under my skirt and begin stroking my thigh, immediately goose bumps raise on my arms and I shiver, whether it's from anticipation or nervousness I'm not sure.

"You're so soft" he says still stroking my thigh, I bite my lip when he squeezes gently. The nervousness in my stomach bubbles and my cheeks heat up. Devastatingly slowly his hands inch higher until he reaches my underwear.

"Is this okay?" he asks and I look into his eyes, I know I trust him completely. I nod and Ichigo smiles before kissing me again. He turns me and places me gently on the end of the seat so that my back is against the locked car door. If I was embarrassed before it's nothing compared to how embarrassed I was when Ichigo parted my legs slowly. I slapped my hands over my face and he laughed.

"Lift your skirt up" he says with a smile completely out of place in the current situation.

"What?" I ask with my eyes wide, "You want me to?" My cheeks redden even more and Ichigo laughs leaning forward.

"Just kidding, I'll do that" he says and I want to slap him for teasing me but my mind goes blank when I feel his fingers pressing against the fabric of my underwear. He pushes my skirt out of the way with his other hand. His other finger hooked into the underwear slowly tugging it off. His breath hitches as he looks at me intensely. His eyes make me squirm nervously; he strokes my inner thigh softly as he moves closer to kiss my lips. The feeling is overwhelming, his fingers inside me, his lips pressing into mine and the feeling he gives me as he pays attention to my every reaction. I tug at his hair and bite his lips, he rubs my sensitive bud of nerves and I whimper.

"Ichigo stop I- I can't" I don't want him to stop though and my hips move me closer to his fingers. Every part of me feels electrified, my heart beats faster, my breath becomes uneven and there's a tightening in my lower belly that's about to come undone. He curls his fingers inwards right before he kisses me and I explode in his arms. He holds me tight in his arms as I try to catch my breath.

It's hard to keep my eyes open after that, I felt warm and fuzzy in his arms. Maybe it was the warmth in the car or Ichigo's arms anchoring me to him, I nuzzle my face into his neck and breathe in his scent.

"Orihime? You asleep?" he asks.

"Nope" I mumble in a voice that sounded half asleep. He sighs and chuckles quietly.

"Get some sleep then" he says and I blink a few times looking at him. He shifts so that I can curl up next to him comfortably.

"I know we skipped a couple of steps but- do you want to… go out with me?" he asks and I giggle in my sleep.

"OK" I mumble before drifting off.

 **XXXXX**

My dreams were an undecipherable jumble of the usual weirdness, for some reason I felt like I was flying and as I dreamt I imagined that I was. I don't know how much time passed but when my eyes opened I was in the backseat of the car. Ichigo was in the front seat driving, I lay down for a while blushing at the memory of what happened earlier. I squeezed my eyes shut when the entire scene replayed in my head; it was like I could feel his fingers inside me all over again.

"You awake?" he asked without turning back. I squeaked in surprise and Ichigo chuckles. I sit up and straighten up my skirt. I look out of the window, it's late afternoon and the sun is packing up to retire for the day. We're on our way back to school. Somehow it makes me a bit sad, our getaway adventure is about to come to an end but I don't want it to.

"How did you fix the car?" I ask leaning forward. Ichigo shrugged and turned around for a moment to answer me.

"You were asleep for a while. I walked to the mechanic and got it fixed up"

"I'm sorry I fell asleep" I say with a blush on my cheeks. I feel nervous and embarrassed, I wonder if he's secretly disappointed.

"Why are you apologizing for that? You were cute" he says and the queasy worries in my stomach went down somehow.

"Besides you could make it up to me later" he says and after five seconds of silence I gasp loudly and Ichigo laughs.

We're almost there, I should probably dress myself up. My face heats up when I snatch my panties that Ichigo had tossed aside earlier.

"Don't look" I say to Ichigo, he laughs loudly and I blush harder.

"But I already-"

"OK! Just don't look!"

"Do you want me to close my eyes? I'm driving though" there's a wide smile on his face as he laughs.

"Ok yeah but just don't turn back!" I cut him off, if he says one more word I'd definitely explode from the embarrassment. I put on my shoes and my somewhat dry shirt, I awkwardly slide on my panties. Ichigo doesn't turn back and I sigh in relief. The aftermath is a lot more embarrassing than actually doing it.

When the car stops Ichigo opens the car door for me and with butterflies in my stomach I take his helping hand and step out of the car. I start walking towards my dorms and Ichigo surprises me by holding my hand.

"What?" he asks when he notices my surprise.

"Nothing it's just- you're unexpectedly very gentlemanly" Ichigo scoffs and coughs but he doesn't let go of my hand. He leads me up to my room and that's when he lets go, my face is stuck in a bashful smile I'm sure will be permanently stuck on my face all night.

"Good night" I say breaking the silence between us. Ichigo nods and I reach for the doorknob. He pulls me back holding my waist with one hand and my face with the other. His lips press against mine and I sigh in relief. I didn't know how much I had wanted him to kiss me but now that he was kissing me I felt like I could breathe again. I just can't get enough of him.

"You're mine now" he says against my lips.

"No! you guys I'm still here!" I shout at Gin and Rangiku. I woke up this morning to the sound of Rangiku's moaning when I turned around Rangiku and Gin were both shirtless and kissing each other's faces off. They didn't even stop when they realized I was awake.

"Sorry!" Rangiku giggled but Gin didn't even spare me a glance.

"Just give me twenty seconds! Pause for twenty seconds!" I panicked when Gin started tugging at Rangiku's skirt. I grabbed my shoes and a jacket and stumbled out of the room with my eyes shut.

"Sorry- ahn" Rangiku called out. It was still devilishly early and I was standing outside in my pajamas. I grumbled to myself as I put on my shoes and my jacket. I made my way outside and shivered a bit. The cold morning air blew through my already messy bed hair. I hope I don't look like a crazy cat lady I think as I look down at my Minnie mouse pajamas and black rain boots.

Since I'm awake I might as well get something to eat. The cafeteria is thankfully open. I push open the doors and walk towards the counter. My stomach growls loudly reminding me just how hungry I really am, I'm about to chose something then I groan. I forgot my purse when I fled the room.

The lady at the counter waits for me to order something expectantly and I smile and slowly turn away.

"You don't have any money?" I hear Grimmjow's voice next to me.

"Uh well I do but I left it…in my room" I say laughing awkwardly.

"Uh huh" he says nodding, he turns towards the counter and pays for the cup of coffee in his hand. I'm just about to awkwardly shuffle away when my stomach grumbles…loudly. Grimmjow turned back to me and I coughed loudly as if that would hide the sound of my stomach's growling.

"That was your stomach?"

"No" My cheeks turn pink and I cross my arms over my chest to try and look dignified.

"It sounded like two whales having an argument" he says and I scoff waving my arms in the air.

"That wasn't my-"

"Not just two whales but like a whole bunch of whales having a fight- a loud fight. How does a sound like that come out of-"

"It wasn't my stomach!" I yelled louder than I intended and Grimmjow laughed.

"Yeah right." He says with an amused smirk on his lips. "What do you want?" he says pointing at the menu. I narrow my eyes a bit, I'm not sure why Grimmjow would do something nice for me, the last time I thought he was doing something nice he had used me in some set up to make Ichigo angry.

"You want to buy me food?" I ask carefully.

"If I don't that stomach growling of yours might cause an earthquake. This is for the greater good" he says and I make a face at him.

"I told you that wasn't my stomach" I mumble.

"What's that? You don't want anything? Well fine then-"

"No!" I say quickly picking out a variety of foods and loading them onto a tray. Grimmjow eyes the small mountain of foods I've loaded onto the tray. He looks at me then looks at my tray and then back to me. I look at the tray in my hands. I had only taken French toast, pancakes, banana waffles, mixed fruits, liver pudding, a muffin and hash browns. oh and a bottle of water of course.

"What?!" I say and he shakes his head and takes out his wallet to pay. I take a seat in the empty cafeteria and Grimmjow moves to leave.

"Wait! You're leaving?" I called out to him. He sighed and looked down at me.

"What? You don't want me to?"

"No, I mean I don't want to sit in here alone and I can't go back to my room"

"What's the big deal about eating alone?" he says sitting down in the seat opposite mine.

"Any company is better than being alone" I say as I bite into a sandwich.

"Well last time you made it clear I mess shit up for you so I thought I should stay away from you" he says drinking from his cup of coffee. I look at him curiously, pondering if he really was trying to help me with Ichigo or if he just wanted to cause trouble.

"I'm sorry" I say after I swallow the food in my mouth.

"What?" he asks looking both surprised and harsh at the same time.

"I shouldn't have gotten angry, you were just trying to help- I think" there's silence and then Grimmjow laughs humorlessly.

"I wasn't trying to help" he says pointing at me with a frown.

"Still I shouldn't have gotten angry-"

"Just. Don't bring it up again" he interrupts me and I smile. He was totally trying to help I think to myself. Grimmjow doesn't say anything as I eat and I'm too focused on the food in front of me. He waits for me to finish and looks shocked when I've cleared everything on my tray.

"How the fuck did you eat all that?" he asks incredulously while we walk out of the cafeteria.

"I was really hungry" I say nodding my head but Grimmjow shakes his head in disbelief.

"Well the whale sounds have stopped I guess" he says and scowl at him. He starts walking away and I follow behind him. I don't want to risk going back to my room just yet.

"What do you want now?" he turns back.

"Nothing! Just- do you know where Ichigo is?" I ask and Grimmjow groans. He doesn't answer me and starts walking away.

"Can you at least try to hide the obvious lovesick puppy thing you've got going on? It's fucking gross" he says and I follow after him.

"Come on please? I'm just asking if he's in his room or if he goes out in the mornings? Does he go jogging? Or does he sleep in on Sundays?" Grimmjow covers his ears with his hands and shuts his eyes.

"tell me, tell me, tell me" I say to annoy him. Grimmjow opens his mouth to shout something but he's interrupted.

"Tell you what?" it's Rukia. I shift nervously and Grimmjow gives me an exasperated look.

"What do you want midget?" Grimmjow asks and Rukia glares at him.

"I need to talk to you idiot, we could do it here or in a hospital room" she says through gritted teeth, Grimmjow pauses with a calculating frown he sizes Rukia up and down and then finally he seems to decide he'd rather not get into a brawl with her as he walks towards her. Rukia gives me a polite smile and a wave as she and Grimmjow turn to each other.

I stand there awkwardly for a few seconds before I decide it's weird to stand there while they're having a conversation. I walk around the school grounds; there are traces of yesterday's rain shower in the air and in the dew on the flower petals.

I don't know where to go now and I'm starting to get a bit bored. I wish I could see Ichigo I think sighing heavily. My eyes look around and I don't see Ichigo's tall frame leaning against a pole or spread out underneath a tree anywhere. There's one or two people walking around, one of them has his face buried in a textbook reading as he walks. I watch the person out of boredom but then I frown at the familiar hair color.

I walk towards him with a wide grin. I poke his side when I reach him and he yelps and drops his textbook.

"WHAT THE-" he starts yelling then pauses when he sees it's me, "Oh it's you" I notice his lips curve into a smile that he tries to hide by turning his face away.

"Morning" I smile widely.

"Morning" he smiles back at me and in return my smile widens even more.

"Why are you dressed in your pajamas? Did you just roll out of bed and land here?" he asks, I look down at my crazy cat lady getup and sigh.

"No I kind of got kicked out of my room"

"What? Why would you get kicked out? Who the fuck-" he starts saying with a scowl.

"It's not that I got kicked out, I ran out. Rangiku and Gin were all… you know" I use my two index fingers to somehow signal the word for it and Ichigo chuckles.

"They were hooking up?" he says and when I blush he bursts out laughing.

"Well what about you? Why are you pacing about with that big textbook? Are you studying? I didn't think you're the studying type" I giggle.

"I wasn't studying" he says rolling his eyes and hiding the book behind him.

"Right, because that would ruin your bad bay facade" I tease him further.

"Bad boy? Pfft don't pin that label on me, makes me think of brooding teenage vampires" he grumbles and I laugh harder because I can totally imagine Ichigo as a brooding teenage vampire. I look down at the book he's forgotten about hiding from me.

"Proper court room etiquette? Why are you reading that" I ask Ichigo clears his throat and looks at his feet kicking at a pebble.

"Rukia made me"

"Why?" I ask Ichigo watches me silently before he answers.

"I'm going to be in court on Monday" he says and like a switch turned on I'm immediately worried.

"Court? Why? Did something happen" I don't know why I'm whispering and Ichigo looks amused.

"No, I'm getting my probation lifted" he says with a smile.

"Really?! That's so good! That's so awesome! It's going to be an actual courtroom and all that? You know 'I object your honor! My client is innocent!' You're going to be a free man!" Ichigo laughs at my excitement but his smile tells me he's just as excited. It's nice to see him this excited. It makes me imagine Ichigo as a little kid having a birthday party.

"Want to go grab breakfast with me?" he asks his lips still turned up in a smile that's making me giddy.

"I already ate, Grimmjow bought me food. He's surprisingly nice sometimes you know" I say chuckling, I don't notice Ichigo's frown.

"Why were you with Grimmjow?" he asks with a tight smile.

"It was just a coincidence" I laugh to somehow lighten him up but it doesn't work because Ichigo's scowl is still in place.

"I thought you said you're going to stay away from him" he says turning to face me fully.

"I'm pretty sure I never said that and I don't think I will. Grimmjow is just like a friend- I think" I shrug but Ichigo's frustrated scowl deepens.

"That pisses me off even more" he throws his hands up before crossing them. I felt like I was being scolded in front of a teacher.

"Let's just agree right now to stay away from Grimmjow. OK?"

"Why? I don't get it. He's just a-"

"Friend? Yeah I get it but the thing is we started off as friends too you know" he says and I pause, if this is our first argument as a couple then it's adorable I think to myself. "Plus I don't like him" he adds as if that's a valid point. After a second I laugh.

"You say you don't like almost everyone" I say and Ichigo frowns.

"That's not true"

"You don't like Ishida-kun too"

"He's an annoying know-it-all" he mumbles.

"You see!" I say laughing. "I don't really get why you and Grimmjow don't get along, I think the two of you could be best friends if one of you tried" I said nodding confidently. Just as I'd said this however Grimmjow walked up to us. Without a word, without a second of warning, he punched Ichigo so hard he fell back.

I was too shocked to scream when I turned to Grimmjow the livid anger on his face made me freeze. Ichigo pushed himself up, his hands curled into fists.

"Grimmjow what?-"

"Yammy came here?!" Grimmjow yelled at Ichigo. Ichigo froze his hands uncurled fell limb at his side as he stared at Grimmjow with wide eyes. Grimmjow's anger hadn't faded one bit from punching Ichigo.

"You don't think that's something you should have fucking mentioned?!" He grabbed Ichigo's collar and raised his fist to punch him again.

"No! Stop! Please!" I shouted, I didn't expect him to stop but he did, his eyes turned to me a second later and he looked at me. His eyes were burning in anger but he reluctantly let Ichigo go.

"I hope you're ready for the shit storm that's coming, you've already dragged her into it" Grimmjow says looking at Ichigo. When I look at Ichigo I'm taken aback, I've never seen him this way. Grimmjow's words seem to have really gotten to him. He doesn't look at all angry at Grimmjow, he takes a step back and then his eyes turn to mine. There's so many emotions in his eyes I don't even know which one to be worried about the most, the fear, uncertainty or the pain?

Grimmjow turns away without saying anything. I walk towards Ichigo and he blinks a few times. He runs his fingers through his hair as I reach out for him. He doesn't move or say anything as I watch him. Grimmjow didn't punch him too hard I'm glad.

"Are you ok?" I ask after a long silence. Ichigo smiles but I don't like that smile, it looks like he's shutting me off.

"Yeah, I'm fine. He still punches like a bitch" he says. He starts walking away, his jaw is tight and he's scowling. I follow after him in my Minnie mouse jammies and black rain boots.

"Ichigo, wait. What did he mean? What-"

"Don't. Don't ask about it please" he says taking a deep breath. He smiles again and it breaks my heart to see him act unaffected. I wanted to help him, I didn't like that he was carrying so much on his shoulders by himself.

"What did he mean? What about Yammy? Why?-"

"Orihime, just stop." He says walking away from me he squares his shoulders but I don't give up. I can't.

"Ichigo just trust me, tell me maybe I can help-"

"No! you can't! I don't need any help! Maybe I don't want to say anything because it's none of your business!" he yells loudly and I step back. My eyes widen and my chest tightens painfully. There's silence. Neither of us says anything. I turn around and walk away.

 **AN: Thank you soooo much for reading! Seriously you guys are amazing! I'm so grateful for each and every single review, you have no idea how happy they make me. LOVE YA!**


	13. Chapter 13: Facials and Confessions

Chapter 13: Facials and Confessions

I walk all the way to my dorm without turning back. I feel angry and hurt at the same time, I hated that he was pushing me away; it felt like he didn't trust me. When I opened the door to my room Rangiku was there alone.

"Orihime-chan, look I'm really sorry about what happened earlier this morning, we didn't think you'd wake up so-"

"Yeah it's fine" I say smiling slightly and settling down on my bed. The frustration still tightens my chest and I take a deep breath.

"What's wrong? Are you ok?" Rangiku asks sitting next to me. She pats my back and I breathe deeply, no matter how much I breathe I can't shake off the heaviness in my chest. It's like the air I'm breathing makes me feel more suffocated.

"Yeah, I'm ok." I say smiling, a second later I shake my head, "not really" Rangiku holds me in a tight hug. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to calm down.

"It'll get easier, give him time" Rangiku says patting my head. I have a suspicion that she probably knows about the argument and I giggle slightly at the thought.

Rangiku leaves a few minutes later, she's supposed to meet Gin for breakfast. When she asks if I want to come with her I politely decline. As I sit alone on my bed my head is swarmed with thoughts of what happened earlier. I was upset that Ichigo had pushed me away even though I was only trying to help but more than that I was worried. The look in his eyes when Grimmjow mentioned Yammy bothered me, he looked almost scared. The longer I sit in bed the more it drives me nuts. I take a quick shower and get dressed.

Half an hour later I'm standing outside Grimmjow's room, I want to get answers somehow and Ichigo made it very clear, it wasn't any of my business. As I'm about to reach for the door handle, the door swings open and Grimmjow steps out. He looks at me with a frown before he sighs.

"What do you want? He crosses his arms and looks down at me in annoyance.

"If you want me to apologize to your boyfriend, leave because you'll be wasting your time"

"I-I wanted to ask about what happened" I say.

"Why are you asking me? Ask your boyfriend" Grimmjow says with a smirk. He says it sarcastically with a glint of malice.

"He-" I bite my lip, I don't even know how to say it.

"Ah, I see he doesn't want to tell you. So you're running to me for answers?" Grimmjow throws his head back and laughs. I feel stupid somehow, why did I think Grimmjow would tell me if Ichigo wouldn't?

"Never mind" I start turning away but Grimmjow grabs my wrist pulling me back. He presses my back against the wall in the hallway, his hands holding my shoulders.

"What happened when you saw him?" he asks, I don't answer him. I stare at him in confusion, he sounds angry but his words aren't, he looks angry but his eyes aren't.

He's about to say something else but someone clears their throat. We both turn towards Rukia standing a few feet away from us.

"Orihime-chan. I've been looking for you. Can we talk?" Rukia says with a smile. I blink and try to move away from Grimmjow's grip but he holds my wrist in his hand.

"What do you want to talk to her about?" he asks narrowing his eyes at her. She drops the smile and rolls her eyes at him.

""None of your business" she says before smiling back at me. I try to move away again but Grimmjow still doesn't let go.

"What are you doing? Let go" I hiss looking at him in confusion.

"Are you seriously going with her to have a 'talk'? Are you stupid? Do you want to end up using my shirt as a tissue again?" Grimmjow says harshly. My eyes widen and I yank my arm free a second later. Rukia doesn't say anything and after a second Grimmjow slams his door shut pushing past both of us. He shakes his head at me in a mixture of disgust and disappointment and flips Rukia off.

"Sorry about him, he's always been like that" Rukia says walking both of us outside.

"Haha yes well…" I laugh awkwardly. I'm wondering if Rukia knows that I was jealous of her relationship with Ichigo, did Ichigo tell her or did she figure it out?

"You don't have to be nervous around me" she says laughing "Let's grab some coffee?" she smiles when I nod. I'm surprised at how nice she is, it makes me feel even worse for the jealousy I had before, which I definitely don't feel anymore, I nod to myself convincingly. We both order caramel coffee's which I take as a good sign. When we're outside holding the cups of steaming coffee Rukia turns to me.

"What are your feelings for Ichigo?"

"Excuse me?" I reply nervously, suddenly this isn't a friendly talk over coffee; it was more like a showdown.

"I mean, are you serious about him?" she says and I laugh nervously. Despite her petite size and adorable haircut there was something very intimidating about Rukia.

"Well yeah. I am" I take a sip from my cup and glance at Rukia, she's smiling at me. I feel awkward but relieved.

"Thank God." She says laughing. Now I'm just confused.

"Rukia? I don't really understand what you wanted to talk about. Can we start from the beginning?" I smile and she smiles back at me.

"Ichigo is a mess as a person, he's completely hopeless." Rukia says patting my back.

"Well he's- I mean he's not that bad" I murmur before I can control myself. Just an hour earlier Ichigo and I had a fight but now I'm defending him, I sigh at myself in disappointment.

"You see! That's what I mean! You're perfect together!" She says laughing, I laugh along with her awkwardly although I still didn't understand what she meant.

"Someone who won't give up on him even when he gives up on himself" she adds after a while and the laughter fades. I look at her and she sighs.

"I'll see you around Orihime-chan" she smiles before walking away. I stare after her till the cup in my hands turns cold, still muddling over what she said.

 **XXXX**

"Come on! It'll be fun!"I said to Ishida.

"You want me, to hang out with you, Rangiku and 'the girls' for some 'Girl time'?" Ishida asked slowly, looking at me incredulously. I nodded and he took a deep breath as he adjusted his glasses. We were sitting together in the library.

"Orihime, by any chance do you somehow... think I'm gay?" he asked with a serious look.

"What? No! I mean unless you are then-"

"What?!"

"I mean I won't judge-"

"Orihime!" he says indignantly.

"No! I mean no! I'm only asking because we wanted you to show us how to do the knitting thing you showed me last time. Well I suggested it because you're amazing with crafting and stuff like that." I explain and he sighs shaking his head.

Rangiku hadn't given me a chance to mope around after my fight with Ichigo, the next morning she brought up the idea of a 'girls hangout' apparently we just lock ourselves in our room and have facials and stuff. The very idea of that drove me wild with excitement. My best friend Tatsuki always cringed away from any and all things excessively girly.

"Fine, I'll just drop by to show you a few things" Ishida said sighing again.

"But don't expect me to participate in any girl talk, facials, nail painting or whatever! I'm going to be there for business purposes only"

That was what he said but he showed up in our room that afternoon with a large box filled with his equipment. An hour later Ishida was instructing Rangiku on the proper way to make a ribbon while he painted Nellilel's toe nails with green nailpolish.

"I told you twice already, it's loop, knot, twist, loop, loop twist! Not loop, twist, knot, loop loop" he said sighing in frustration.

"I'm trying! It's not exactly easy!" Rangiku complained.

"Everyone else did theirs nicely" he said patting his cheek to make sure the green facial mask he was wearing was evenly spread. I couldn't help laughing; he said he's not here for the facials but when Rangiku offered to do his facial he had nodded with almost no hesitation. Rangiku, Soifon, Nell, Ishida and I were all sitting on the floor with green facial masks and different ribbons strewn all over the floor around us.

"Ok whatever enough of this complex knitting madness, let's get down to the main event" Rangiku said rubbing her hands together.

"Is it true Grimmjow and Ichigo fought over you?" Rangiku asked in a hushed whisper that everyone in the room heard anyway.

"What? No!" I said quickly, "That's not what happened!" Rangiku sighed in disappointment.

"Shame that would have been so dramatic though" she pouted.

"Well it was a fight really, Grimmjow just- hit Ichigo. I don't know what it was about either" I said after a pause, my mood suddenly turned gloomy.

"Don't worry about it! I mean who knows why those two keep fighting?! That's probably how they communicate" Rangiku laughs nervously but I still feel gloomy.

"He doesn't trust me enough to tell me" I said smiling despite the depressing topic I was talking about.

"Well screw him!" Soifon says. "You don't need him, who needs guys?!" she says nodding.

"I'm pretty sure you're still a virgin, Soifon" Rangiku says filing her nails. Soifon glared at her and everyone laughed.

"I say don't forgive him!" Soifon continues.

"What? No! just give him time" Rangiku says turning to hold my shoulder.

"Kick him to the curb-" Soiffon says, "Nellillel back me up"

"I don't know I mean, she can't give up on Ichi so fast" Nel says and Soifon glares.

"So what are you going to do?" Ishida says and everyone turns to me. There was a spotlight on me and I pictured a thousand eyes waiting for my answer watching me sweat through my green facial mask. The room turns quiet and when i gulp down the lump in my throat it feels like everyone heard it, the tense silence is interrupted when there's a knock on the door.

"The pizza's here!" I jump up and open it without a second thought. As I open the door my eyes widen, I have to blink, one, two, three, then four times to ensure this isn't a dream. Standing at the door looking like the sexiest angel to ever set foot on this wretched earth is Ichigo, not just Ichigo but Ichigo wearing a suit. Ichigo in a suit. Kurosaki Ichigo wearing a suit, a black suit with a navy blue tie. Ichigo in a black suit with a navy blue tie.

I gasp and hold my hands over my face completely forgetting my green shrek mask.

"Ichigo?" I don't get a chance to say anything else because someone slams the door shut.

"What is he doing here!" Ishida says pressing his back against the door.

"What are you doing?" I move to open the door but Ishida stops me.

"No! Don't you dare! I can't let him see me like this!" he points at his face, he sounds like a newly wed bride having a tantrum about her husband seeing her like a mess. Ichigo knocks on the door again.

"Orihime, can we talk just for a minute? please" he says from outside. Rangiku stands up and moves to open the door but Soifon grabs her.

"Back off!" Rangiku hisses fighting to reach the door handle.

"No!" Ishida and Soifon yell at the same time.

"Open the door Orihime-chan!" Rangiku yells holding her hand towards me as Soifon tackles her to the floor. I look at Ishida who's shaking his head violently and I reach for the handle again. He tries to stop me but Nell grabs him. I open the door just as Ichigo is about to knock again. He looks up and smiles but someone slams the door shut again. Its Soifon.

"Why should she open up for you? I mean you wouldn't open up for her!" Soifon yells.

"Just open the door! I need to talk to her" Ichigo says banging on the door now. He starts opening it from outside but Ishida pushes back.

It's chaos.

"One good reason, give us one good reason why she should open this- door!?" Soifon says.

"Just-let me talk to her-. Orihime?! Can you hear me?" Ichigo yells pushing harder against the door.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a second. Just let me- get this door open" I pull against the handle.

"I can't hear your reason Kurosaki! No one is opening this door for trash- like you!" Soifon says laughing. "You don't have a reason do you? Why do you need to talk to her if you're going to hurt her? Huh?-" Rangiku tries to pull Soifon away from the handle. Nell helps me pull at the door and Ishida pushes it closed with all his strength.

"Because I love her!" Ichigo yelled.

Everyone froze. Ishida stopped pushing, Rangiku stopped pulling, Soifon stopped pushing, Nel stopped pulling. I stopped pulling and Ichigo pushed the door open. He was breathing heavily, I wasn't breathing at all. He stared around at everyone in the room and then without saying anything else he grabbed my hand, pulled me out of the room and shut the door.

There wasn't any other sound in the hallway except his breathing, my eyes were staring at his still in shock. He cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair.

"So… I-uh wanted to talk to you" he said breaking the silence.

"Yeah…" I said in a daze.

"Uhmm about yesterday-" he started saying until someone running down the hallway yelled his voice.

"Ichigo?! Where have you been?! We're going to be so late! Nee-sama said he'll drive to the courtroom with or without you-" Rukia came yelling. She paused when she saw the look on both our faces.

"I'll be right down" Ichigo said turning back to me. He opened his mouth to finish what he was saying but Rukia coughed.

"I'm really,really sorry but if you show up late-"

"Just give me five minutes!" he said exasperatedly. He turned back to me and as he opened his mouth to speak Rukia's phone rang.

"Hello? Yes he's uh- he's on his way. Yes we're running, we'll be there in a second. No, less than a second, Nee-sama" Rukia said, Ichigo sighed and ran his fingers though his hair, messing up the way it had been styled back.

"I have to go" he said looking at me apologetically. I blinked a few times and it finally occurred to me that I should say something.

"Yeah, I mean definitely, you should go. Hurry" I laughed nervously waving him off.

"I still have to talk to you though, today? When I'm done? Please?" he asked hopefully walking backwards slowly moving down the hallway, I nodded and he sighed in relief a small smile settling on his lips.

"under the tree outside the cafeteria? At 6?" he yelled before Rukia pulled him down the hallway out of sight.

I stood outside the room in the hallway wondering if there's a chance I had dreamt this entire encounter. A few people passed me and stared at my zombie facial mask but I was still replaying everything that just happened in my head.

XXX

 _"I need to talk to Orihime! Step aside evil zombies!" Ichigo yelled at the army of green faced zombies keeping me away from him. He loosened his necktie and pulled out a thin black sword from his pocket. With his orange spiky hair pushed back he charged at the green goblins between us._

 _"Ichigo! Be careful!" I shout struggling against the ropes binding my wrists. He swung his sword and in a flash of light the green goblins vanished. He was next to me in a second._

 _"Orihime. We're together at last" he said with a sparkle in his eye. He winked at me and the ropes around my wrists fell away immediately with a 'pop' sound._

 _"Orihime, I- love-you" he said each word rolling off his tongue shooting fireworks in my heart._

 _"I-"_

"Orihime! Wake up!" Rangiku's voice wakes me up and I blink as I wipe the drool on my cheek.

"Yeah, yeah I'm up, I'm up. What? What's going on?" I sit up looking confused.

"I'm going out with Gin. We're going to a really cool club. Want to come with?" Rangiku says strapping on a pair of very high heels. "This stupid rain better not mess up my shoes" She mumbled picking up her bag.

"Uh, I have classes tomorrow and it's almost 10 already" I yawn stretching out on my bed. I close my eyes to revisit my dream with Ichigo. His voice as he said he loves me replays in my head and I giggle to myself. What happens after that? What did he say after that? I close my eyes to recreate the entire scene of my dream, but that wasn't a dream.

My eyes fly open and I sit up. It wasn't a dream. It happened...today. Ichigo wanted to talk to me. I gasp out loud as I look at the time. It's 9:45 now, I was supposed to meet him more than 3 hours ago. I groan and slap my hand over my forehead. Why did I take a short nap? I never wake up after afternoon naps! I feel so annoyed and frustrated at myself, I wonder how long he waited for me? Maybe he thinks I'm still mad at him? I look out of my window and frown. The night sky is almost as gloomy as I am, and to top it off it's raining again. There's no way Ichigo is still waiting. I bite my lip and slowly sit back down on my bed. Two seconds after I stand up and pull on a pair of jeans, grabbing an umbrella I run outside.

I don't know if he'll still be there, but maybe, just maybe if he is, I need to see him, I need to see him. I feel a ringing sense of urgency as if there's a ticking time bomb counting down something. I run through the rain as fast as I can, clinging onto my umbrella tightly. When I reach the tree, there's no one there.

What did I expect? It's dark and raining, there's no way anyone in their right mind would wait-

"Orihime?"

I had started walking away but the sound of my name being called out stopped me. I spun around and saw Ichigo, he was seated under the other side of the tree. The tree had not been enough to shield him from the rain, the dark suit he was wearing was soaked, his hair splattered to his forehead. The moon cast a silver glow on his face highlighting the drops of rain dripping from his hair onto his face and I walked towards him slowly. When I reached him I held out the umbrella over him. He looked up at me and sighed in relief.

"You came" he said leaning back against the tree with a smile on his face.

 **AN: Hey you guys! Thank you so much for reading and leaving reviews, its exam season and university is cruel. I hope you guys are at least having fun this December (its almost 2017?!) I hope you enjoy this and as always I will see you guys next time! Love ya!**


	14. Chapter 14: Top secret cookies

**AN: HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had more eventful holidays than I did. I'm so grateful that it's been a year and I have you guys reading this story, I say it a lot but i'm just so, so grateful to everyone that leaves a review. They all mean so much to me (especially since i low key feel like i don't deserve you awesome peeps since i'm shitty and unreliable when it comes to updates)**

Chapter 13: Top secret cookies.

"You came" he said leaning back against the tree with a smile on his face.

"Why are you here?" I asked in disbelief. "It's late and-and it's raining"

"I said I'd wait for you" he said simply. Shrugging as he looked up at me. I gripped the umbrella tighter as if it was the only thing keeping me sane.

"I don't understand, How-how long have you been waiting? Here in the rain?" My chest tightens and I feel so bad. Ichigo stands up pushing his hair back, he hasn't taken his eyes away from me once. It's making it very hard for me to breathe.

"It doesn't matter you're here now."

"Have you been here in the rain for four hours?!" I look at him in utter shock.

"No! no! it only started raining an hour ago" he says with a smile that makes me feel worse.

"Why did you wait so long?" I asked frowning.

"I kept thinking, maybe you might still show up. I would have gone up to your room but I didn't, in case you didn't want to see me. I mean I get it, maybe you wanted me to suffer a little because you're angry-"

"I wasn't trying to make you suffer! Really I wasn't! I just- I just forgot" I say biting my lip nervously.

"You forgot?"

"Yeah I took a nap that accidentally lasted the whole day" I say and Ichigo's face spreads into a wide smile. He covers his face with a hand and chuckles.

"Thank God. I though you hated me" he says laughing. I laugh with him because the very idea that I could ever hate him was ridiculous. He takes the umbrella from my hand holding it higher above both of us. With one hand he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.

"I really wanted to talk to you, I have to apologize, for what happened yesterday" he says seriously.

"It's okay" I say but he shakes his head.

"It's not okay, I hurt you. That's not okay, that's not what I wanted. I was trying to protect you and I- I'm a fucking idiot" he says, his eyes plead with me to believe him, to trust him and I do. "Are we- I mean…" Ichigo's voice trails off and he takes a deep breath looking down at the muddy ground.

"Am I still your boyfriend?" he asks after a second and I blink a few times before I laugh.

"Technically we've been together for about a day! Of course you're still my boyfriend" I shake my head at the the surprised look on his face, "We haven't even gone on a proper date yet" I tease him.

"We went on the picnic... the one with no food" he mumbles and I laugh again.

"Come on let's get out of this rain" I say pulling him along. Ichigo takes the umbrella from my hand and holds it over us as we walk back to my dorm. Although we were laughing a few seconds ago, there's still so much left unsaid between us. He doesn't say anything; his face doesn't tell me anything about what he's feeling right now. I'm not sure how to describe what I'm feeling either. The fact that he waited so long just to apologize to me makes me feel both happy and extremely guilty. I glance at him and I have to tear my eyes away when I see he was already staring at me. I clear my throat and try to focus on getting to the dorm before my heart explodes.

We enter the dorm and open the door to my room, Ichigo leaves a wet trail behind him. He leans against the door when he closes it behind him. His eyes are watching me closely and I'm not sure what to do. It's like we're both unsure what comes next. I open my mouth to say something but I bite my lip and sigh, I want to ask him about so many things but the one question occupying the most space in my mind was the simplest one, _Do you love me?_

"Ichigo?" I finally speak up breaking the silence, He doesn't answer but his eyes tell me he's been waiting for me to say something. My throat dries up and the words choke me so I can't say anything for a while. I tug him closer to me, stepping towards my bed I gently push him down to sit down while I stand over him. His eyes are still following my every move and I'm nervous and squeamish underneath his attentive gaze.

"Yeah?" he finally asks and I look at him. I pull the blankets off the bed and wrap him up.

"D-Don't catch a cold" I laugh awkwardly. Ichigo nods and tugs his tie off and runs his fingers through his hair. I blushed at the realization that I was probably drooling at his effortless perfection. Why can't I focus? Focus! Just ask him! The pep talk squad in my brain is certainly not doing a good job because right now I felt nervous and self conscious in front of his eyes. I walked over to my closet and pulled out two more towels. I came back and drapped them around his shoulders and over his head. He chuckles and looks up at me with a small smile.

"I think I'm warm enough" he says and I look away hoping my face isn't as red as I imagine it is, I sit on the bed next to him and focus on somehow gathering my scattered thoughts.

"Are you still mad?" he asks afterawhile and I turn to look at him. He looks adorable wrapped up in towels and the blanket I can't help laughing.

"I'm not angry" I say and he looks a bit relieved. I lick my lower lip nervously and muster up every shred of courage dormant inside me to finally stop being shy about my feelings and ask him about what he said earlier today. "Did you mean what you said today? When you said…"

"That I love you?" he says in a calm voice that rattles me. My cheeks redden and I nod slowly. I realize I'm holding my breath, this feels like an epic moment, a turning point that will either make me happier than I've ever been in my life or crush me completely.

"I-I think I should take that back" he says, the trumpets singing in my head come to an abrupt stop and I frown.

"What?" I say my voice cracks a little and maybe my heart does too.

"I shouldn't have said it that way, you probably thought I'm crazy." He turns his head to the side and laughs humorlessly. "I mean that was- I shouldn't have said it" he says quietly. He doesn't look at me as he says this and if he did he'd notice I was about to fall apart.

"What- what does that mean?" I ask, my voice is deceptively calm.

"I don't want you to think I said it because I wanted you to forgive me. I-I shouldn't have yelled it outside your door in front of-" He covers his face but I'm sure I saw the reddening on his cheeks.

"Just forget I said it. I won't say it again. Unless of course you feel the same" he says and laughs shaking his head. "Sorry that was a joke, you don't have to say it back, I said that without thinking-"

"I love you" I say. Ichigo freezes and turns to me slowly. He looks just as shocked as I am. It's a scary thing to open up your heart to someone. Not knowing for sure if they'll accept you or not. I never planned to open my heart to Ichigo but I fell so unexpectedly and it was terrifying in a thrilling way. It was like someone had hit a mute button and every single sound on this earth was muted except for my heartbeat, my uneven breathing. I blinked a few times waiting for him to say something, he didn't move or say anything as a few seconds that felt like ages passed. Ichigo grabbed my wrist and pulled me against him so that we were so close, I'm sure he could feel my uneven heartbeat against his chest.

"What did you just say?" he asked looking confused.

"I know you heard me" I say looking into his eyes.

"I don't think you understand what you're saying. Are you- sure?" he asks in amazement. I smile and nod.

"Think about it really hard, Are you really sure-" I interrupt him with my lips. He immediately holds my waist in both his hands. It's an enchanting kiss because we're both smiling and I'm giggling. My hands runs through his messy hair, he deepens the kiss pulling me tighter against him. His fragrance fills up the air around me until it feels like I'm not breathing air anymore but I'm breathing him in. It was intoxicating. I found myself unconsciously unbuttoning his shirt. He places kisses on my neck as I push the towels and his white dress shirt to the far end of the bed.

I gasp when he bites a spot behind my ear and sucked on it. I can feel his smirk against my skin and his eyes glance up at me hotly.

"It's still raining" I say without looking away from his eyes. He nods and twirls his fingers around a strand of my hair.

"Yeah, I think it'll keep raining for a while" he says and I bite my lip.

"Then stay" my voice comes out like a whisper but I know he heard me because he pressed his lips against mine again.

Holding my waist tightly he moved me so that I was spread out beneath him on the bed. My fingers reached out to touch his bare chest. I could feel his muscles tense up underneath my touch. Ichigo groans and he delves his tongue deeper into my mouth. He slides his hand underneath my shirt and stokes every inch of skin he can reach. I somehow wrench my lips away from his lips. Ichigo looks me in the eyes. His eyes are burning into me, scorching straight into me but I can't turn away from him. I tug my shirt off, lying beneath him in a simple bra and my jeans but his eyes slide over me hungrily making me flush. He licks his bottom lip as he crawls over to me slowly, he kneels over me; both hands on either side of my head. He slowly stroked my cheek with one finger, stoking down my neck, down my chest. His other hand reaches behind me, effortlessly unhooking my bra, he pulled it off. He cursed under his breath as he watched me with wide eyes. Diving down he kissed me hard on the lips, and I returned the intensity.

"Tell me when you want me to stop" he breathes into my neck in between hot kisses.

"Never" I moan as I tug at his hair. He unbuttons my jeans and pulls them off in one swift motion, my white and black stripped panties followed shortly after. I felt so exposed but the look on his face gave me a kind of confidence I never knew I could wield. Feeling uncharacteristically bold I propped myself up on my elbows and smiled at him naughtily.

"Take your pants off" I said blinking at him through my eyelashes. He smirked at that and stood up to pull down his trousers. Whatever confidence I'd had left me in a hurry, my eyes were torn between looking away and drinking in the sight of him. I settled on unabashedly staring at him. He was too perfect to look away from. He crawled back over me slowly and kissed my cheeks.

"You're making me blush" he said with a confident smirk and I bit my lip nervously. He pressed kisses to my neck this time going lower, placing light kisses over my breasts. I gasped out loudly when he took a nipple into his mouth and sucked on it gently as he squeezed the other between his fingers. I felt heat pooling in my lower belly and I can't help the sounds that poured from my mouth. He parted my legs and placed himself between my legs. He looked up at me, our eyes fixed on each other. I watched him take his hand away from my breast and slowly tracing a line down until he stroked my entrance. I moaned into the air between us and he groaned pressing his forehead against mine.

"Fuck" he cursed pressing his eyes shut. "You're so wet" he kisses me with more urgency.

"Hold onto me" he commands into my ear and I grip his shoulders. He slides his hardness against my slit and my breath catches in my throat. I watch him in fascination as he reaches down into his pant pockets to pull out a golden foil packet. At the back of my mind I wondered why he was carrying that around in his wallet. He looked at my questioning look and smiled with a blush on his cheeks.

"I've been carrying these around since the first day you showed up here" he said and my jaw dropped.

"W-what?!" I blushed a bright red and he laughed.

"You were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen" he shrugged and bent forward to kiss me, my heart hammers in my chest. Every single adult novel I'd ever secretly read in high school couldn't prepare me for the feeling that came next, when I felt his erection slowly entering me. My nails dug into his shoulders and I cried out squeezing my eyes shut.

"Shh" he murmurs into my ear as he gently strokes my hair. "I'm so sorry" he adds kissing me gently. He waits for me to be ready, he doesn't mind that I must be pinching his shoulders painfully. I take a deep breath and experimentally move my hips forward. Ichigo groaned in response and so I did it again and again. He held my hips and placed a chaste kiss on my forehead.

"That's the last time I'll ever hurt you. I promise" he said with his eyes burning with more than just lust. That's when he started moving, his thrusts felt amazing, the profanities he breathed out as he moved against me faster and faster each time made my insides burn with need for him. I couldn't think about anything else, except the way he said my name in between groans, the way our breathing seemed to block out the sound of the rain outside. His lips wouldn't stay off my skin for long, it felt like I was losing myself in a world that consisted only of Ichigo, his touch, his voice and his fragrance and I loved every second of it. Even when we were both so close to our peaks neither of us could form a coherent sentence.

"Ah", I shuddered as he went faster. Ichigo's cheeks were flushed and his hair was damp with sweat but he still looked perfect. I can't imagine how much of a mess I must look.

"Ichigo…" I moaned out his name gripping his waist with my ankles. Ichigo groaned out loudly. It takes a few more thrusts for both of us to come undone in each other's arms. I try to catch my breath and he spreads out on the bed next to me.

I have to blink a few times to take in the magnitude of everything we just did. I feel like climbing a mountain and screaming at the top of my lungs because of the euphoric feeling in the pit of my stomach, I burst into a fit of giggles and Ichigo looks at me, his lips curved into a smile too. The way he looks at me kills me, it makes me forget about everything else, and nothing else matters as long as his eyes are this warm when he looks at me.

"Go to sleep" I say poking his cheek. He scoffs and rolls his eyes at me.

"You go to sleep" he's still staring at me and I blush for the 100th time that night.

"Then stop staring" I mumble trying to avoid his eyes.

"But you're cute" he says laughing. I pull the pillow and shove it into his face.

"Oh my gosh! Go to sleep!" my voice sounds even more embarrassed and he laughs circling his arms around my waist, cradling me into his chest. We lie in silence for a while tangled in the sheets, his warmth radiated around me and in a few more minutes my eyelids felt too heavy to stay open.

"I want to protect you more than anything, that's why I don't want to involve you in a lot of the shit that happens around me. I don't want to answer the questions you have." he says, I yawn at curl into his chest.

"That's the reason I won't stop asking." I say and he sighs. "Who's going to protect you?" I add before drifting into blackness, whether he says anything after that or if he fell asleep too, I'm not sure. I just knew that I'd never felt more at home than when he held me this way.

 **XXX**

I woke up sometime early in the morning; the sun hadn't peaked through the curtains. What woke me up was the sound of Ichigo's voice. He was talking to someone on the phone, I was still too sleepy to make sense of the words but I smiled at the sound of his voice. Maybe I could record it and make it my alarm tone? The thought makes me smile wider.

"You even smile in your sleep now?" he says, I blink a few times and yawn.

"Morning" I sat up slowly, holding up the sheets around my chest. Ichigo must have woken up a while before me because he was wearing his boxers, I'm glad he didn't put on his shirt though.

"Morning" he replied combing my messy hair away from my face with his fingers.

"You sleep like an angel but you wake up with the funniest bed hair ever" He laughs.

"You have messy hair all day long" I point out and he shrugs.

"Yeah but it looks good on me" he says and this time I laugh.

"Are you hungry?" he asks still brushing his fingers through my hair.

"Now that I think about it, I am" I move to the end of the bed and lift the mattress. I take out my hidden stash of cookies. When I offer him a piece he takes it with an eyebrow raised.

"You have cookies hidden _in_ your bed?" he asks and I nod.

"I used to hide then under my pillow but Rangiku always finds them. So I came up with a new plan." I nodded proudly and he laughed. "On that corner I used to keep chocolates but they melted, bad idea. So I hid candy instead, this is a secret though. Under no circumstances can you ever release the coordinates of the treasures to anyone, OK?" I explained to him in a serious tone and he nodded with a smile on his lips.

"That makes sense" he adds looking at me in a way that made my heart burst. I smiled back at him but I felt a twinge of sadness. He looked so carefree right now so different from the way he looked that day in front of Grimmjow. I didn't want to ask again, it would ruin his smile.

"You know when I was 10 I got bitten by a dog" I blabbed out without thinking, Ichigo looks confused.

"OK?"

"And when I was 11 I fell off a tree, I didn't break any limbs but I landed on a random street dog-that bit me afterwards." He laughed and so I kept blabbering. It's my speciality and if it made him laugh, I'd keep doing it.

"I-I think Godzilla seriously lives under the ocean and also we should be taught in schools how to communicate with him should he ever come out" Ichigo's laughter filled me up; he covered his face in a feeble attempt to hide the sun.

"You're adorable you know?" he grabs my wrist pulling me against him. He circled his arm around my waist placing me on his lap.

"I'm scared of spiders, Nicholas Cage and paintings with eyes that follow you, makes me think that there are souls trapped in the paintings waiting to jump out and take over your body… but my worst fear is being alone. I hate it more than anything." I laughed and looked down at Ichigo's hand still holding mine.

"That's funny because I was always, always alone. I got used to it but I still hated it, I hated everyday" I smiled at Ichigo and he held me tighter. "There wasn't anything I could do about it. My brother was gone and I did the best I could on my own" I smiled but he frowned in concern.

"I understand that you don't want to tell me, but I don't like it. Don't always do things on your own, you're not alone, so don't try to push people away. It makes me sad." I squeezed his hand and looked at him hoping he could feel how much I meant everything I was saying. He closed his eyes and sighed. He didn't say anything for a long while. The silence was making me uneasy.

"Cookie?" I asked offering him my top secret cookies.

 **AN: I know that was an awkward ending but I had to cut this somewhere. This chapter was supposed to be posted before Christmas but well...**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter ̶i̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶i̶'̶m̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶d̶r̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶m̶y̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶e̶a̶r̶s̶,̶ ̶i̶ ̶a̶m̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶a̶w̶f̶u̶l̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶r̶i̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶m̶u̶t̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶a̶m̶ ̶i̶ ̶d̶o̶i̶n̶g̶?̶ ̶**

 **Anyways! Leave a review and let me know! See you guys...soon?**


	15. Chapter 15: The pond with floating stars

Chapter 14: The pond of floating stars

"You're trying to distract me aren't you?" I asked him in a shaky voice.

"Nope, not at all" he smiled before he continued kissing my neck. I giggled and pushed him off me. Each time I tried putting on any clothes he slyly took it off. I pick up my t-shirt and put it on for the third time. He circles his arm around my waist and pulls me against him.

"Don't go out today" he whispers into my ear, I shiver involuntarily but I clear my throat, my cheeks heating up.

"I have classes today and Rangiku is coming back soon and-" my voice catches in my throat when he bites my ear. His cool hands slide underneath the shirt I'm wearing and he touches the bare skin of my breasts.

"Stay" his whispers again in a low voice that makes my legs quiver, "I'll make sure you don't regret skipping your classes today" he promises as he slowly starts tugging my shirt up. My eyes slide shut and I'm ready to give in to anything he wants from me. It's so hard to stay sensible when he's touching me like this. My whole body heats up when he pushes me down onto the bed again. His lips are spread in a wide victorious smirk as he looks down at me greedily. He probably knows the effect he has on me.

"I-I still need to get to my classes so…" he laughs in between kisses.

"So you want me to hurry up?" he asks and I blush.

"No! That's not what I meant I was just-" He interrupted me with a deep kiss, with his tongue in my mouth he settled himself between my legs and my heart leapt out of my chest. In the brightening sunlight everything was clearer than it was last night, I could see every inch of Ichigo's body and it made me nervous that he could see every part of mine too but the hungry look in his eye told me he wanted me. Unlike last night he wasn't gentle and he didn't hesitate.

He didn't have to do much to make me a writhing mess underneath him; his hands teased my breasts as he kissed my lips. In a few seconds I was panting desperately for him. He pressed his forehead on mine and looked down at me.

"Do you _have_ to go to class?" he asked with a smirk tugging at his lips and I frowned. Somehow it was like he had an evil master plan to keep me from leaving and there was no doubt I'd fall for it. He kisses my lips heatedly, alternatively nipping and sucking on my bottom lip. He suddenly pulled away from my lips and I pouted at the loss of contact. He smiled and kissed the tip of my nose, and then my chin. He placed hot wet kisses down my chest, down my stomach. My eyes widen when he spreads my legs and kisses the sensitive bundle of nerves between my legs. A part of me thinks I should protest to what he's about to do but an even bigger part of me wants nothing more than to feel his tongue on me.

He grinned up at me right before his tongue pressed against me. I moaned out his name throwing my head back against the bed. He held my hips to pin me down so I wouldn't move as his tongue pressed against my clit. My heart was beating at a million beats a minute; I bit my lower lip when he used his fingers to spread my lips allowing him more access. The way he looked up at me while he touched me this way was so distracting at this moment I might even forget how to breathe. I moaned his name again and it sounded even more desperate than it did just a second ago. In response to my pleas he pressed his tongue flat against my clit harder, sucking gently. Every flick of his tongue and brush of his fingers against me push me closer the the edge. My whole body tightened until I couldn't stand it anymore. I squeezed my eyes shut as I allowed myself to fall apart completely because I knew he would be there to hold me together. When I caught my breath and opened my eyes he was staring down at me.

"Ichigo" That's all I could think to say, it was as if his name was the only thing left in my vocabulary.

"What do you want?" his eyes were taking every inch of my body.

"You" I answered reaching up to circle my arms around him.

"You want me to do what?" he asked with a smirk and my cheeks reddened. He chuckled and kissed my cheek. "You're still such a good girl. I'll make you beg me to fuck you someday" he whispered in my ear right before he pushed himself into me all the way in and a hiss left his lips. I gasped and moaned his name loudly as I felt his hips moving against me at a steady pace. I was way beyond the point of embarrassment or any kind of self control. He kissed me hard as his hips slammed into me faster and harder than I thought possible. My back arched against the bed and he gripped my waist pulling me harder against him. He groaned into the crook of my neck.

"Fuck you feel so good. You're so beautiful Hime" He moaned and I felt like exploding, the way my name sounded precious as it rolled off his tongue made me want to hear him say my name over and over again. I felt myself clenching around him, I moaned his name loudly as I came around him and he didn't stop thrusting his hips into mine but we both froze at the sound of Rangiku's voice at the door. She pulled down the handle but by some miracle the door was locked. Before I have time to feel relief Ichigo kisses me again and just continues as if unfazed.

"Orihime? Are you inside?" my eyes widened in panic. "Shit where the hell are my keys?" Rangiku said outside the door.

"Ichigo?! What are you ah-" he smiled mischievously. His thrusts got even faster and harder I held onto his shoulders for support.

"Ichigo stop she's- going to open the door- she has a key" I whispered into his ear with my eyes squeezed shut tightly. I was terrified of Rangiku and anyone else walking into the room but at the same time I felt I might fall apart if Ichigo stopped now.

"Shh I'm close" he whispered into my ear. With just a few more seconds he stopped moving against me. He was biting down on his lower lip to stop himself from making any sounds as his orgasm washed over him. He smiled down at me and we looked at each other panting for a few more seconds till I remembered the situation. I jumped off the bed on shaky feet and hurriedly pulled on my T-shirt and my pair of jeans. Ichigo pulled on his boxers and smiled at me from the bed where he was still seated.

"What are you doing?!" I whispered at him, throwing his clothes at him. He laughed and slowly stood up. I made a futile attempt to make the bed somehow decent.

"Get dressed!" I picked up his jacket and tried to forcefully put it on him while he laughed.

"She probably already guessed what's going on" he said shrugging. When I heard the key jiggling in the lock I squeaked in panic and Ichigo laughed harder. I frowned when I saw he hadn't even buttoned up his shirt but it was too late. Rangiku came in and she wasn't alone, Rukia came in after her and they both looked at Ichigo and me. There was silence for a few seconds and I coughed slowly. I brushed my fingers through my hair and looked at the ceiling. Ichigo was wearing nothing but his boxers and unbuttoned shirt and I just realized my shirt was on backwards. If my life was a soap opera this would be the moment dramatic music plays while they zoom into each of our faces.

"H-Hey Rangiku, Rukia. Nice to see you" I said without looking at either of them. "Good morning"

"Yeah I bet it was" Rangiku says and Rukia bursts out laughing.

 **XXXXX**

The blush on my cheeks seems to have settled there permanently. It stays on my cheeks throughout the entire day and I have to reassure Ishida that I don't have a fever. Thoughts of Ichigo flood my head the entire day and I find it extremely hard to focus on anything.

"You don't have a fever but your face is as red as a tomato" Ishida says, "Or are you thinking about something perverted?" he asked and I gasp in outrage with my eyes wide.

"What? No! Absolutely not! What?! Of course not! Don't be ridiculous!" I laugh and cough at the same time. Ishida looks at me and nods.

"Ah so it's Ichigo on your mind" he nods in understanding and I sigh covering my face in embarrassment. Was I that obvious?

"Well I guess after his loud declaration of love you guys made up didn't you?" he says raising an eyebrow suggestively. I don't answer but the look on my face is enough confirmation for Ishida. He chuckles and shakes his head.

"Although I find your taste questionable and I personally feel you can do better than that half ape. If you're happy that's enough" he says with a rare smile and I feel so touched.

"Thank you!" I say smiling at him. "You know you shouldn't be such a loner! You're smart and kind! I bet you can find a girlfriend easily!" I say excitedly and he sighs.

"Why do you assume I don't have a girlfriend?" he asks adjusting his glasses. I laugh and wink at him.

"What's that supposed to mean? I do have one!" he says and I laugh again nodding encouragingly.

"That's the spirit! Be positive! And it will happen!" I pat his back he scoffed.

"I have a girlfriend! What part of my appearance gives the impression that i'm a loner?" he hissed at me.

"No! of course you do!" I nod vigorously and then wink at him.

"I'm telling you I really have a girlfriend! A real one!" he shouts very loudly. I stare at him with wide eyes. I blink and look around at the lecture hall filled with people looking at Ishida. I had forgotten we were in the middle of a class.

"That is very good for you, I'm sure this entire classroom is proud of your achievement Mr. Uryu Ishida but do you think we can focus on the lesson?" The teacher says turning to face us with his arms crossed. Ishida's face reddens as he buries his face in his textbook and the whole class sniggers.

After the class I jog next to him, he sighs looking crestfallen. I poke him but he doesn't react.

"I can't believe that just happened. It didn't right? This is all a dream right?" he asks looking at me and I nod sympathetically.

"Yes, of course it's a dream" I say in an effort to console him but he slaps his hand over his forehead.

"I'm dropping that class tomorrow. Should I transfer schools?" he asks and I laugh.

"You might as well leave the country too, I think people in China also heard you." I laugh and he rolls his eyes at me.

"But you really have a girlfriend?! That's so good! Can I meet her?"

"She goes to a different university. Nemu is a medical student" he says with a hint of pride in his voice. Ishida had easily become one of my closest friends here. I had three more classes that day, after a quick lunch with Ishida I went through the rest of my classes. Without Ishida to talk to my mind stumbled towards Ichigo. I thought about his smile, the way he looked at me and the way he touched me. My heart was racing and I had to stop myself from giggling like an idiot. As immature as it was I doodled his name on my notebook with a heart. If he ever saw it I'd have to burn the entire book I decided as I proceeded to decorate his name with glitter.

I somehow make it through the entire day, the sun was already setting. I find myself pouting with a sigh, I missed him. I shake my head at myself. I just saw him this morning why did I already miss him? I frowned at myself, I don't want him to think I'm clingy but I still wanted to see him. As I thought of this I felt someone wrap their arm over my shoulders. I looked up and my face split into a smile.

"You're here!" I said excitedly and he smiled back.

"You done with classes?" he asked and I nodded eagerly.

"Come on then, I want to show you something" he pulled me along with him. I followed him, not caring about where we were going; it was enough that he had his arm around me. I'd follow him anywhere. He led me towards the back of the school building where the trees thickened, with the trees looming down at us it was much darker and I could barely see anything. I hadn't been here before and I wasn't even sure if we were allowed to be here. He didn't say anything so I followed him quietly.

"And here we…. are" he says, he held his hand out to hold mine and slowly he pulled me towards what I saw was a small pond. It wasn't the pond that made me gasp in wonder; it was the hundreds of fireflies that lazily circled around the area.

"This is so-" My sentence trailed off as I looked around.

"Awesome, amazing, wonderful? I know" he says with a wide smile and I laugh. Every mundane and ordinary bush or shrub seemed to sparkle. It was beautiful.

"The rain might fucking suck but with this weather this happens so it isn't too bad" he says shrugging.

"It feels like we're standing in the middle of the stars, just the two of us" I smile widely and he looks at me for a second before he looks away.

"That's exactly what I thought too" he says as he leads me to a wide smooth stone and motions for me to sit. When I'm seated he sits next to me and I smile at him.

"Thank you for bringing me here" I smile and he shrugs clearing his throat.

"Careful there's a bunch of frogs too though" he says and I immediately tuck my legs away from the grass. He laughs and I smile at him. After a while his smile is replaced by a frown.

"Can I tell you a story, it's a stupid story but you can listen-if you want to" he says and I nod slowly. He sighs and runs his fingers though his hair. He looks uneasy as his scowl deepens.

"You can tell me" I say and move closer to him. I smile encouragingly.

"Uhmm so I told you about my mom right? How she- died" his voice sounds nervous and he rubs his palms over his thighs. He looks at me and I nod quietly, he continues. "Yeah that happened but I didn't tell you how it happened." He paused and breathed deeply. I can tell how hard it is for him to talk about this. He turns to face the pond and I want to reach out and comfort him somehow.

"She used to pick me up from school even after I was old enough to come back home on my own. I never complained though" he says and shakes his head with a small smile. "That day she picked me up was no different, it was raining though. She had stopped to talk to someone, her friend I think. I wandered off on my own to a more secluded area. I really wasn't even paying attention to where I was going. There was a black van parked there, there wasn't anything special about it but I walked towards it because I thought I heard something and I did hear something. I peaked in and I saw something I shouldn't have. That was when the owner of the van came up to me. He shoved me out of the way and yelled at me to get lost. My mum came running towards me and tried to get me away from him while she apologized to him but I didn't shut my mouth"

I was so engrossed in what he was saying I didn't notice his hands curled into a fist. He took a deep breath but continued. "I didn't understand why my mum was trying to get me away from the guy and without thinking I shouted that he had a girl tied up in the van, I was nine and stupid. My mum was scared and I should have understood why, there wasn't anyone around. No one would be walking about in that rain, it was raining so heavily no one heard anything that happened next." Ichigo didn't say anything for a while and I think I held my breath as I watched him.

"He shot her" he says simply and just like that I felt my heart shatter. It hurt so much to think about how it must have felt for a nine year old to witness that.

"No one in my family blamed me, I wish they did though." He laughed with a dark expression on his face. He ran his fingers through his hair and then he turned to look at me for the first time since he had started talking.

"Why are you crying?" he asks quietly brushing his thumb over my cheek. I touch my cheek and find the tears that had slipped from my eyes. I sniff and try to brush them away but fresh ones replace them as fast as I wipe them.

"I'm not- crying it's just-" I use my sleeve and Ichigo holds my face in his hands.

"You're such a crybaby" he says with a half smile, I can't smile back.

"I'm sorry" I answer and I'm sorry for so many things, I'm sorry he went through so much and it felt like I had pushed him to talk about this.

"You're allowed to cry, I don't want you to cry though, it makes you ugly" he says with a smile, he's trying to lighten the mood somehow.

"I'm crying for you stupid" I hit his shoulder sniffing again.

"Ah that's makes me feel even worse. Don't cry for me, I don't deserve it" I frown as he said this.

"I wish you didn't blame yourself at least. You were so young and it was- an accident. It was probably hard for you, to live with those scars for so long" I look at him seriously; he leans forward and kisses me.

"You have your own scars too, but you came out beautiful and strong. I became a shitty delinquent" he says laughing humorlessly. "There's a reason every single police officer hates my guts, I got in trouble so much. Getting in pointless fights, going after thugs like some crappy half-assed substitute cop, that's how I was throughout high school. One of my best friends had an older brother who was a cop so she helped me get a lot of info. I guess she felt sorry for me" I realized he was talking about Rukia.

"Rukia helped me find out that the man responsible for my mom's death was in a gang, a gang with fucked up thugs that were capable of just about anything. I guess I was obsessed with getting revenge after I heard that. There was nothing else to call it, it wasn't heroic. It just was selfish revenge."

"What happened?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Most of them got arrested or just scattered about after I went after them. Yammy was one of them too, He is probably very eager to break every bone in my body." He laughed, "That's why I didn't want you to get involved at all" I watch his face, he wasn't looking at me and I felt somehow he had skipped the details. I wasn't going to ask though, it was more than enough that he was telling me this much.

"Do you think he is looking for you?" I asked worried, he smiled at me.

"No, I don't think so. He doesn't want to get involved with me too much. I'd kick his ass" I smiled at him sadly and wrapped my arms around him in a hug.

"Thank you for telling me" I said my voice muffled by his chest. He ran his fingers through my hair, the only sound besides the crickets was the sound of his heartbeat against my ear. It was completely dark and also a bit chilly, Ichigo stood up and we both started walking away from the beautiful pond surrounded by floating stars.

"I'm telling you because I want you to be careful"

"Of Yammy? You said he isn't going to be looking for you" I said trying to read his facial expression.

"Not just him, be careful of Grimmjow" he said and I frowned.

"Grimmjow? Why?"

"He was one of them too" he said and my blood ran cold as I stared at Ichigo with wide eyes

 **AN: Dun! dun! dun! Ok i know somehow the build up to the backstory was way too much(wasn't shocking at all i mean it's almost Tite kubo's exact idea, LOL don't sue me) but i think Ichigo as a character would take a lot of time before he opens up to anyone and this is the first time he's had to deal with this thing called 'feelings' so he's probably lost on sorting all that out on his own.**

 **Also it has come to my attention that i am almost incapable of writing non-fluffy smut scenes because I'm a complete fluffy bunny. So i want to apologize for my 'medium-heat' smut. Lol**

 **So leave a review and let me know what you think! LOVE YOU!**


	16. Chapter 16 : Party favors

Chapter 16 : Party favors

My mind was reeling with everything Ichigo had told me last night. I didn't sleep comfortably because I couldn't stop thinking about what Ichigo had said. When he walked me back to my room he didn't ask me if he could come in, he could tell I was thinking about a lot.

"Get some sleep" he had kissed my forehead before he walked away.

I tried to get some sleep but I was too busy picturing Grimmjow as one of those scary thugs. When I did sleep I had a nightmare about Grimmjow holding a gun pointed at Ichigo. I woke up in cold sweat. I got up an hour earlier than I normally would have and took a shower.

"What are you doing?" I said out loud to my reflection. I looked terrible, like a person who hadn't slept all night. I dressed up and packed up my books. I was still so preoccupied in my thoughts I didn't even remember to wake Rangiku up. Was Grimmjow _that_ dangerous? he couldn't be as bad as I imagined it but it still gave me goose bumps to think about it.

I only had one class that day and I had gotten up way too early, I still had about an hour before it began. If I thought more about Grimmjow or Ichigo I'd go crazy.

"This is so frustrating!" I tug at my hair as if that would somehow clear out my overflowing thoughts.

"Why are you shouting so loudly this early in the morning?" Someone says behind me, my breath catches in my throat and I hesitate for a second. I know from the voice that it's Grimmjow but I can't bring myself to turn around to face him. I open my mouth to say something but no sound comes out. If I turn around to face him he'd definitely know that I'm scared to be around him. Instead of answering I walk away without turning back, hoping he wouldn't come after me.

 **XXXX**

"Orihime? Hellooo?" Ishida snaps his fingers in front of me and I blink a few times.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah what?" I smile absentmindedly and Ishida frowns at me.

"What is wrong with you? You're even more distracted than usual. Did something happen?" he asks me with concern in his eyes. I don't know how to answer that. No, nothing happened. Nothing has happened yet, but why do I feel uneasy and frightened?

"I just- had a bad dream last night" I mumble. We were walking back to the dorms from the library, Ishida read from a thick book while I sorted the books on the shelf.

"That's not a big deal right? It's just a dream. Don't worry about it" He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and I smiled.

"You're right, I'm probably just worried for nothing."

Ishida waves goodbye as he leaves me to walk back to my dorms. I hadn't seen Ichigo all day and I sighed at myself. If I see him every day he might get bored of me right? Also I don't exactly look like a fairy princess right now; I look more like the house elf from Harry potter today. It's probably best that Ichigo hadn't seen me today. I chuckle at myself, kicking a pebble on the pathway out of boredom. I bump into someone and I almost fall back from the impact, a pair of strong arms grip my shoulders and hold me upright.

I sigh in relief, when I look up I flinch away from his touch. Grimmjow's face shows confusion for a second but he shrugs and puts his hands into the pockets of his dark green jacket.

"What's wrong with you? You're being weird" he says taking a step closer. I involuntarily take a step back, I can't find the courage to look him in the eye right now. Instead I stare at my shoes as I clear my throat.

"Nothing- I-I'm fine" I don't mean to stutter but my voice is shaky. I try to move away from him but he steps to the side blocking my way.

"'Nothing, I-I'm fine!' what the fuck is that?" he imitates my voice. I still haven't looked up so I can't tell what his expression is right now. He takes a step closer and goose bumps rise on my arm. The nightmare I had flashes in my mind at that moment and I spun away on my heel, I just wanted to be anywhere but in front of him. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"Let go!" I screamed the second he touched me. He was taken aback but he didn't let go of my wrist, instead he held tighter. I tried to pull away but he wasn't bothered by my efforts at all.

"Wow, you should see your face right now. You look like a scared little puppy. I wonder what you're scared of?" he grins widely, his eyes are cold as he stares down at me.

"Are you scared of me by any chance?" he says in a sarcastic voice. I try to pull away from him again my heart is beating faster and I feel panic rising up in me. He looked scary right then, he looks the way he did in my nightmare.

"That's not surprising really, This is how you should have reacted the second you saw me. But here's my question"

"Let me go, Grimmjow. Please?" he laughs humorlessly at my pleas. Slowly, he leans down so that his face is inches away from mine.

"Answer my question first." His light blue eyes are ablaze with anger.

"Why now? You're scared of me all of a sudden. Why?" his voice is calm.

"I-I'm not scared" I laugh in an attempt to sound brave but my voice sounds weak and pathetic. My answer angers Grimmjow more because he let's go of my wrist only to hold my shoulders tightly.

"Why bother lying? It's written all over your face! You're terrified and disgusted by me aren't you?" he yells at my face, his face is twisted into a frown but his eyes show hurt for a second. I try to read his expressions but he turns his face away and let's go of my shoulders.

"It's Ichigo isn't it?" he asks after a few seconds, he chuckles. "He must have opened his mouth and told you a shitload of things huh?"

"No! That's not what-" I shake my head quickly. I don't want Grimmjow to turn his fury towards Ichigo.

"He must have painted himself as a hero, am I right? You think he's a victim?!" Grimmjow laughs. His laughter pierces through me, it sounded a lot like screams of pain to my ears. "What a joke" he says looking at me. He pushes his hands back into his pocket and walks away. I stand there for a while. An hour or two might have passed as I stare at nothing, standing at the same spot. I don't trust my legs to move for a while.

"Orihime-chan! You're back" Rangiku says from the bed. She's painting her nails bright pink. I nod as I kick off my shoes and immediately fall onto my bed. I can't seem to move properly and my head hurts.

"Ichigo came here looking for you earlier" Rangiku says in a chirpy voice and I sit up instantly, I look around the room as if he would suddenly pop up out of my closet.

"When did he come? Did he say anything?"

"Well he's not here now obviously" she rolls her eyes at me and I pout. I have so much on my mind I just want to hold him and forget everything.

"You'll probably see him tomorrow, there's a huge party at Nnoitora's house tomorrow. Oh no wait he might not come though, he fought with Nnoitora and those two hate each other" she shook her head in disapproval and I looked down at my hands.

"Rangiku?" I called out softly, looking down at my hands.

"You're friends with…everyone right? With Ichigo and Grimmjow?"

"Yeah. Why?" she asks blowing on her nails. I think about how to ask her what is on my mind. How do I ask what I'm thinking? My thoughts are a mess of puzzles that don't fit in place. The things Ichigo said last night weigh in my mind heavily but somehow it doesn't feel right. Despite the nightmare I had, I just couldn't think of Grimmjow as a heartless thug. He was definitely unpredictable and moody but he wasn't a bad person, then why did I react that way?. Rangiku looks over at me when I don't say anything.

"What's up? You look tired" she says looking at me with concern in her eyes. I nod and lay back down in bed. I lie there somehow waiting for sleep to find me or for my mind to stop overheating. I hear Rangiku snoring a while later but I still can't sleep. It's only 10:00 pm, I get up and walk towards the door. I step into the hallway expecting it to be empty but I jump when I see Ichigo standing there. He looks surprised to see me too.

"What're you doing up?" he asks after a moment.

"I couldn't sleep" I answer quietly. He looks at me with concern; I slowly walk towards him and bury myself in his arms. He holds me tightly and I breathe in his scent. The headache I had magically vanished, the worries, the concerns I had a second ago leave my mind instantly.

"Are you ok?" he asks after a while. I want to nod and smile at him but right now I just want to be in his arms. "Did something happen? What's wrong?" he asks when I don't answer. He tries to pull me away so that he can look at my face but I hold him tighter and hide my face in his chest.

"Nothing happened. I've just been- thinking" my voice is muffled by his chest but he heard me. Without letting me go he leads me back into the room. He sits down on the bed and pulls me down with him.

"Stop that. Stop over thinking" he says and I peek up to look at him.

"I can't help it" I mumble with a smile. "I always worry and over think. It's what I do"

"If it's about the stuff I told you last night, don't worry about it. I'll protect you no matter what, so forget about it" he looks at me seriously. His eyes are piercing through me, searching for an answer. Like he desperately needed me to believe what he's saying. Of course I believe him and that worries me too, the fact that he would protect me even before himself.

"I'll protect you too" I say seriously and his eyes widen for a second. He didn't expect that answer.

"You should get some sleep" he moves to get up but I hold him.

"Can't you stay?" I ask and he raises his brows at that.

"To sleep I mean, just to sleep" I add with a blush on my cheeks.

"I'm not the one having dirty thoughts here" he scoffs and I blush harder.

"I wasn't thinking anything! But if you don't want to stay then-"

"Fine! I'll stay! Since you insist!" he smiles widely as he kicks off his shoes and pulls the blanket over both of us. With his arms around my waist and my head on his shoulder I feel so safe and warm. I bite my lower lip, it's dark but I can clearly see him looking at me too.

"This is nice" I smile but I don't know if he can see the smile.

"Close your eyes" he whispers.

"But I like you" I smile wider and he chuckles and holds me tighter.

"Sleep" he says in a stern voice but I can still feel his laughter vibrating in his chest. My eyes slid shut but I don't remember at what point I fell asleep or if I even fell asleep at all. My dreams were exactly the same as the reality I dreamt of being in his arms as I slept in his arms.

 **XXXXX**

"Awww! You guys are so cute!" I woke up to the sound of Rangiku's squealing. I opened my eyes to see her waving her phone over Ichigo and me as she took pictures of us. Ichigo groaned next to me and without opening his eyes he threw a pillow at Rangiku which amazingly hit her right in the face. She didn't stop laughing though and with a click sound she took one more photo. Ichigo glared at her and I blushed slightly.

"Would you please delete those?" I mumble and Rangiku laughs louder.

"Yeah send them to me" Ichigo says and I sit up and look at him with wide eyes. He grins at me with his hair a mess and my heart swoons. It's too early to have my heart skipping because of Ichigo I think to myself.

"You two cuddling is going to be my profile picture" Rangiku says and I shake my head at her in panic. She just winks at me which I hope means she was only kidding.

"Ichigo, you going to Nnoitora's party today?" Rangiku asks, looking up from her phone.

"Nnoitora? Hell no. Why would I go to that creep's house willingly?" Ichigo sits up on the bed and casually wraps his arm around my shoulders.

"Orihime is going though" Rangiku adds and I look at her in confusion. She gives me a meaningful look and Ichigo turns to me.

"You are?" he asks and I hesitate before I nodded.

"Yeah! You see? She is coming, so you should probably come too" Rangiku says smiling widely.

"Don't go." Ichigo says with a slight pout, my eyes widen at how cute Ichigo looks. I haven't seen that look on his face before and it makes my heart race.

"She is going she promised, right?" Rangiku says emphasizing each word with her eyes wide in a manner both pleading and threatening. I look at her and then back at Ichigo's pout. How am I supposed to pick?

"Don't go, let's go somewhere else together. Just the two of us" Ichigo says in a low voice, he brushes his fingers through my hair and I cave in completely.

"Ok" I say with a dazed smile and Rangiku groans throwing a pillow at me. Ichigo roars in laughter and throws the pillow back at her. I smile apologetically at Rangiku but she rolls her eyes at me and Ichigo laughs louder. He gets up and picks up his jacket from the floor.

"I'll pick you up later" he says to me with a lopsided grin before he opens the door and leaves. I stare at the door he left from for a few seconds and then turn to Rangiku who shakes her head at me with a smile on her face.

"Ugh you're so in love with him. Gross" she says making a face and I laugh. "You're going to regret skipping this party though, it's not just a party. Nnoitora isn't a very likable person but his parties are epic. It's a pool party and everyone is coming, he even gives out party favors" I shrug at that, I don't tell her that I would definitely have more fun doing nothing with Ichigo than I would at a crowded party without him. Even if the party favors were bags of chocolate, I'd still rather be with Ichigo.

"Now I have to tell everyone you and Ichigo aren't coming"

"Who else is coming?" I ask as I tie my hair in a messy bun on top of my head.

"Gin, Renji, Nel, Grimmjow, literally every is coming except you two" she says. She doesn't notice how my body tenses at the mention of Grimmjow. I sit down on my bed and bite my lip nervously, my stomach feels queasy and I know why. The way I acted towards Grimmjow is bothering and I can't let it go. I want to ignore my uneasiness and just enjoy going on a date with Ichigo today but I know the guilty feeling at the pit of my stomach won't leave me alone till I make things right.

"Maybe I could come too? For a little while?" I ask Rangiku and she looks at me excitedly.

"Really?! You'd ditch Ichigo for me?!" she held her hands over her chest as if she was touched. I smile back.

"I'm not ditching him, I'll just stop by for a little bit" Rangiku jumps up and down excitedly.

"It's a pool party! You're going to love it. I could even lend you a swimming suit! This is going to be amazing"

"Really I'm just going to stay for a short time! I'm not going to swim or anything." I wave my arms and shake my head but Rangiku is already too excited to respond to me.

A few hours later we had finally reached the party in Renji's car. Renji complained about how long it took Rangiku to get ready and Rangiku argued that it took a lot of effort to select the right bikini set. I couldn't pay attention to the argument though because my mind was trying to come up with what I'd say when I saw Grimmjow. _'I'm sorry I was so rude? I had a nightmare about you being a dangerous killer which I don't really think you are?_ ' Rangiku glances at me and notices my discomfort.

"Don't worry too much, you'll still make it back to meet up with Ichigo on time, besides this way you get to keep the party favors!" she reassures me and I smile back even though that's not what I'm worried about.

Inside the huge house there are a lot of people. The music blaring so loud I can't even hear my own thoughts, it's the first party I've been to in the afternoon and everyone here is holding a red plastic cup. Rangiku expertly threads through the crowd somehow managing to greet everyone she passes. Gin popped up out of nowhere and silently slid his arm around her waist. I don't want to waste any time chatting here so I immediately look around to find Grimmjow. It's so crowded I start wondering if it will be possible to find him in this herd of people swaying to the loud music. I push my way through people but it's a lot harder to navigate through the crowd without Rangiku who I had left chatting with Gin in the kitchen. I look around for Grimmjow for almost half an hour and I'm standing in the backyard ready to give up.

The pool is surrounded by people dipping their feet in and a very few actually swimming, it seems almost everyone preferred to stand around drinking than actually swimming. I spotted Nellilel laughing by the pool and I considered asking her if she's seen Grimmjow but I decide against it because she might ask why I'm looking for him and I wouldn't know how to explain that. When I turn away I catch a flash of electric blue hair. My palms start sweating when I spot Grimmjow leaning against the wall by himself. I walk towards him slowly and he doesn't turn to look at me. He has a cigarette between his lips and he's staring at the ground. He doesn't even look up when I reach him or when I clear my throat to get his attention.

"H-hi Grimmjow!" I say smiling widely even though he isn't looking at me. He doesn't answer me, he takes the cigarette between his fingers and blows out a stream of smoke. I wait a few seconds for him to say anything but he continues smoking without paying me any attention.

"So I- I wondered if I could… talk to you?" My voice is shaky and it's very obvious how nervous I am. I expected him to ignore me again but he laughs humorlessly.

"You want to 'talk' to me? Aren't you scared I'll do something to you? I might attack you" he finally looks up, his eyes are cold and a bit angry. I bite my lip taking a deep breath, ok I deserved that.

"I'm not-" my words trail off because I don't know how to explain, I had treated him like a dangerous animal yesterday and now I'm here to apologize? Who would believe such an apology? But I still felt horrible and I couldn't leave things the way they were. "I came here to apologize to you" I say looking at him in the eyes seriously, hoping he'd believe me. He laughs louder than he did the first time.

"Apologize for what? Do you think you hurt my feelings?" he stands up straighter so that he towers over me, I know he's trying to intimidate me, to scare me off but I stand firm. He throws his cigarette on the floor and stamps it out a bit harder than was necessary.

"I'm not Ichigo, I don't need you to cuddle me, and I don't need to live up to your fucking expectations and I definitely do not need your pity!" he growls at me dangerously taking a step closer. His eyes are burning through me and I can't help looking down.

"That's not how I meant it" my voice sounds so soft I don't know if he can hear me, "I'm sorry because the way I acted was wrong" I finally look up and his eyebrows are raised in confusion.

"You're sorry?" he asks a bit incredulously.

"I really am! You've mostly been a friend to me and I shouldn't have-"

"Are you serious?" he interrupts me. "Are you so fixated to keep your saint-like image, the good girl persona that you came all the way here to say all this?" he doesn't look angry anymore but he looks baffled.

"I'm not just saying it. I mean it" Grimmjow steps back looking at me for a few seconds with an expression I haven't seen on his face before. He turns away without saying anything else and I follow behind him.

"Wait!" I call after him but he doesn't turn to me until I grab his wrist to get him to look at me.

"Do you forgive me?" I ask pleadingly and Grimmjow looks at me with the same confused look on his face and he shrugs before pulling his arm away.

"Whatever" he says and I can't help smiling widely. The relief that washes over me is startling, I had no idea how much his forgiveness meant to me. I hated the thought of hurting one of my friends and I'm not even sure when Grimmjow had made it onto that list of friends. Grimmjow walked back into the house and I followed behind him, I wanted to tell Rangiku I was going back to the dorm to get ready to meet up with Ichigo.

Rangiku was still in the kitchen where I had left her but I could tell she had already had a few drinks, she was laughing louder than normally as she sat on the large counter of the kitchen, Renji, Nel and Ikaku were laughing with her. When Rangiku say me and Grimmjow come up she pointed at us.

"Oh! You guys come play too! We're playing spin the bottle!" she giggled patting my shoulder when I came up to her.

"No, I should get going" I smiled at her.

"Go where?" she asked incredulously as if I hadn't already told her a hundred times I would only stay for a short while.

"I'm going to meet up with Ichigo remember?' I said loudly over the music but Rangiku shook her head.

"No need! He's coming here" she wiggled her eyebrows at me and then held her phone at me. I looked at the text message displayed on the screen.

 ** _Rangiku: I have your girlfriend, shut up and come quietly_**

 ** _Ichigo: Damn it! Rangiku wtf_**

There was a photo attached of me in the car looking out of the window. Rangiku laughed and then winked at me.

"So let's get back to the game while you wait for your prince charming to join us!" Rangiku says and beside me Grimmjow rolls his eyes and reaches for a bottle of beer on the counter. Renji reaches for the bottle and spins it, it lands on Nel and Renji dares her to chug an entire bottle of bear. She shrugs and downs the entire bottle without pausing even once. My attention drifts away from the game to the direction of the door as I wait for Ichigo to come. I don't want the bottle to land on me because I'm scared of whatever I'll be dared to do so I turn away from the door each time the bottle is spun and then turn back when it doesn't land on me. Rangiku spins the bottle and it slows down dangerously close to me but I sigh when it lands on Grimmjow instead. My eyes shift back to the door as I wait for Ichigo.

"I dare you to…" Rangiku says giggling, Gin whispers something in her ear and then she nods excitedly. I'm only half listening, as I wait impatiently for Ichigo. "Grab any girl and just kiss her" This wasn't an unusual dare, they had dared Rangiku to do the same thing the last time we played truth pr dare.

"You want him to get slapped don't you?" Renji said and Rangiku laughed maniacally. I frowned at the door as if that would make Ichigo show up magically but then I felt someone turn my head quickly. My eyes widened when I saw Grimmjow holding my face with both hands and before I could react he had crashed his lips onto mine forcefully.

My whole body froze and my eyes widened even more. I was so shocked and confused I couldn't move my body. Grimmjow was kissing me in front of everyone.

 **A/N: I'm back after my hiatus! Why was i gone for so long? i had 2 round of tests (failed the first round) so yay! here's an update and hopefully i will be a proper student and stop failing and rewriting tests. I hope you guys enjoy this story because i really enjoy writing it and your reviews really make me so happy.**


End file.
